Battle of the Gigabrains: Vitalik Buterin to match wits with chess grasp

At 9 pm EST tonight, Ethereum co-founder and figurehead Vitalik Buterin will face off in opposition to chess streamer Nationwide Canadian Workforce participant Alexandra Botez in an match occasion live-streamed on Twitch. 

The occasion happened following a sequence of matches and conversations held by members of the Ethereum-focused Bankless podcast and publication. After Vitalik participated in a handful of matches, Botez threw down the gauntlet:

@VitalikButerin I’m a chess streamer and an enormous fan of your work I heard from some folks within the crypto house that you’re fairly good at chess! It could be an enormous honor to play when you ever want a break

— Alexandra Botez (@alexandravbotez) November 13, 2020

Followers of the chess character have warned Vitalik to be careful for her namesake “Botez Gambit” — a playful time period for when she by chance loses her queen. Jokes apart, the Canadian sports activities some critical accolades: she presently holds the title of Lady FIDE Grasp, and is a 5 time Canadian Nationwide Ladies Champion. 

Not all are counting out the 26 year-old Ethereum co-founder, nonetheless. Some have speculated that between pondering Derek Parfit and fixing scalability, Vitalik is likely to be hiding some real chess chops:

Watch Vitalik simply secretly have a 2500+ in him he is simply by no means bothered to play sufficient rated matches https://t.co/PD34qfzaWb

— Colin Goltra (@Goltra) November 18, 2020

Moreover, except for serving to construct the world’s largest good contract platform, Vitalik is likely to be most notable because the inventor of a chess variant. In 2019 he debuted “1.58 dimensional chess,” performed on a pyramidal aircraft. 

And what would an Ethereum mindsport prizefight be with out on-chain prediction markets the place viewers may guess on the end result? Gamified prediction market Yieldwars is providing a marketplace for the match, with winner-take-all choices for both aspect, whereas Omen Prediction Markets is providing weighted payouts.

Thus far, the market believes that Vitalik goes to have a tough night. Pitched as “King versus Queen,” the Yieldwars market presently has totaled solely $500 in bets, with bettors healthily favoring Botez. Omen, in the meantime, has attracted over $650 in bets, as soon as once more closely skewing in the direction of the chess streamer.

One potential choice for the overmatched founder? An irregular opening. The Cointelegraph weekend editorial staff humbly suggests the Orangutan.