Negreanu, Boeree to take on chess masters this Sunday

Daniel Negreanu and Liv Boeree may have made names for themselves as top-notch poker players, but they’re going to see how much strategic prowess they have in a different game this Sunday – chess. The two will be participating with two world-renowned players in a promotional chess match designed around PokerStars. They’re coming in with a seriously large handicap, though – the chess masters will be giving them substantial hints every step of the way.

The “hand and brain” match is a partnership between PokerStars and Chess.com. It was created to promote a PokerStars Platinum Contest that involves both sites. Members of both communities have been submitting ideas for new games that combine chess and chance, and the winner of the contest will be announced during the chess match. The winner will be awarded a Platinum Pass for next year’s PokerStars Players Championship to be held in the Bahamas.

The game is scheduled for Sunday at 4 PM US Eastern Time. Negreanu (“hand”) will be teamed with World Grand Master Jennifer Shahade (”brain”) and Boeree (“hand”) will be teamed up with International Master Danny Rensch (“brain”). It is a five-game match and will employ a ten-minute blitz clock with a five-second interval. The match can be seen live on either Twitch.tv/pokerstars or Twitch.tv/chess.

According to Shahade, “PokerStars Play Chess will be a thrilling meeting of the minds,” said Shahade. “During the stream, we’ll be announcing the winner of the #MyChessPokerGame challenge in dramatic fashion, with one of the six finalists eliminated after every game, until we reveal the winner of the $30K PSPC Platinum Pass. This partner chess game is ideal for pairing celebrity aficionados with chess masters: Danny or I will be the ‘brains,’ and announce which piece to move, while Liv and Daniel will pick the specific piece and the square. This results in a lot of laughs and unintended consequences.”