The I’M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship (IMSCC), the event that pits your favorite players who’ve not (yet) made GM, is back for its 2023 edition this week—and we can’t wait until it kicks off on Thursday, October 12 at 11 a.m. ET/ 17:00 CEST/ 20:30 IST.

Chess celebrities, streamers, VIPs, inspirational authors, commentators, and even the odd Chess.com staff member (IM Dawid Czerw) will line up on Thursday for our marquee tournament for those just below the elite level.

We’re talking about the voice of chess himself, IM Levy Rozman, IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM Greg Shahade, English commentator and GM-hopeful IM Lawrence Trent, plus best-selling Chessable author IM Christof Sielecki, aka ChessExplained.

Here’s what to expect from last’s clash between Rozman and eventual winner IM Eric Rosen:

Chess.com’s own IM Danny Rensch, IM Rakesh Kulkarni, and IM David Martinez Martin will also be battling for the top prize in 2023, along with IMs Meri Arabidze, from Georgia, and Peruvian Deysi Cori.

Among the up-and-coming players, we have the three-time world girls champion IM Polina Shuvalova. Representing ChessKid, the 14-year-old English IM Shreyas Royal will get to test his speed chess skills against some of the best. Also on the roster is IM Eline Roebers, who, at 17, is the reigning Dutch women’s champion.

Among the internet personalities, we have WGM Qiyu Zhou, the hugely popular Chinese-Canadian streamer known on Twitch as “Nemo,” and IM Georgios Souleidis, aka TheBigGreek.

At stake is a $15,000 total prize pool and, naturally, the right to call yourself the IMSCC’s top dog. Last year’s tournament was won by the softly-spoken IM Eric Rosen, who beat the tournament surprise package FM James Canty III 12-9 in a thrilling all-American final.

The IMSCC will start on October 12 with 16 players divided into four groups. Groups A and B will kick off at 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST and 15 p.m. ET / 21:00 CEST respectively. Groups C and D will compete on October 13 from 11 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST and 15 p.m. PT / 21:00 CEST. Rounds will take around one hour to complete.

Group winners will advance to the semifinals and finals held in the week of October 16. More details on scheduling will be released later.

The competition will be fierce. For fans, the IMSCC is a hugely exciting event that pits a few of the most familiar faces—some of whom are rarely seen competing—against each other.

You can watch all the games of the 2023 I’M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship live on Chess.com/TV or on our Twitch channel. You can also watch all our live broadcasts on YouTube.com/ChesscomLive.

The IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship (IMSCC) is an online event where some of the strongest IMs and other invited players compete in a series of speed chess matches. Each match consists of a 5+1 blitz segment, a 3+1 blitz segment, and a 1+1 bullet segment, with the player who scores the most points winning the match. If there’s a tie, players play a four-game 1+1 match to decide the winner. If the tie persists, an armageddon game with a bidding system decides the winner.