The Grand Chess Tour (GCT), a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world’s best players, will return again in 2023. Tour participants will compete for a total prize fund of $1.4 million over the course of the 2023 season. The prize money for each of the two classical tournaments will be $350,000 and $175,000 per event for rapid and blitz. In addition, a bonus prize fund totaling $175,000 will be awarded to the top three overall tour finishers.
The 2023 tour will include eight full tour players and additional wildcards will be selected for each tournament. The Chess Classic will kick off the 2023 tour in Bucharest, Romania and the Sinquefield Cup will close out the tour from November – December in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
More about the Grand Chess Tour 2023: The Grand Chess Tour returns in 2023 / Grand Chess Tour 2023 is part World Championship Cycle
New: Yifan Hou returns to competitive chess in a strong rapid
Grand Chess Tour, a leading global circuit of international chess tournaments featuring the world’s best players, announced the wildcard players for Chess Classic Romania, Rapid & Blitz Poland and SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia.
The Chess Classic Romania will kick off the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour, with all nine full tour players and one wildcard player, Grandmaster Bogdan-Daniel Deac from Romania. This 10-player round-robin tournament will feature a total of $350,000 in prizes for the top performers.
Rapid & Blitz Poland is the first rapid and blitz leg of the tour and will include a 10 player round-robin battle for a $175,000 prize fund. The event will feature six full-tour players and four wildcard players including:
- World Chess Champion Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen from Norway
- Grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek from Poland
- Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko from Romania
- Grandmaster Bogdan-Daniel Deac from Romania
SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia will include nine rounds of rapid and 18 rounds of blitz chess for a total prize fund of $175,000. This event will feature five full-tour players and five wildcard players including:
- World Champion Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen from Norway
- Former World Champion Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand from India
- Grandmaster Ivan Saric from Croatia
- Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh from India
- Grandmaster Constantin Lupulescu from Romania
“Romanian chess has a rich history of notable performances and talented players. One such example is Corina Peptan, who at just 10 years old, amazed the world of chess by becoming the world chess champion for Romania in her age category back in 1988. Today, we are confident that we can reach similar heights and even surpass them,” said Augusta Dragic, President of the SB Foundation.
Dragic continued: “We are fully committed to supporting the Romanian Chess Federation and bringing the world’s best chess players to Bucharest every year. This year’s Chess Classic promises to be spectacular, with two chess players battling it out in April for the world title. We look forward to welcoming the new world champion to Bucharest for the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour starting on May 5, alongside the world’s chess elite. Among them, our very own Bogdan Deac, who serves as an inspirational role model for young chess players who have the unique chance to see their idols every year.”
The complete field for all three international events are as follows:
Chess Classic Romania: May 4-16, 2023 – Bucharest, Romania
| # | Player Name | Player Type | Country | FIDE Average | URS Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Alireza Firouzja | Full Tour Player | FRA | 2811 | 2795 |
| 1 | GM Ding Liren | Full Tour Player | CHN | 2801 | 2798 |
| 2 | GM Ian Nepomniachtchi | Full Tour Player | FIDE | 2778 | 2789 |
| 3 | GM Fabiano Caruana | Full Tour Player | USA | 2781 | 2780 |
| 4 | GM Anish Giri | Full Tour Player | NED | 2767 | 2762 |
| 6 | GM Wesley So | Full Tour Player | USA | 2762 | 2769 |
| 7 | GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Full Tour Player | FRA | 2746 | 2766 |
| 8 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Full Tour Player | POL | 2767 | 2767 |
| 9 | GM Richard Rapport | Full Tour Player | ROU | 2736 | 2746 |
| 10 | GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac | Wildcard | ROU | 2656 | 2691 |
Rapid & Blitz Poland: May 19-26, 2023 – Warsaw, Poland
| # | Player Name | Player Type | Country | FIDE Rating | URS Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Ding Liren | Full Tour | CHN | 2801 | 2798 |
| 2 | GM Wesley So | Full Tour | USA | 2762 | 2769 |
| 3 | GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Full Tour | FRA | 2746 | 2766 |
| 4 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Full Tour | POL | 2767 | 2767 |
| 5 | GM Richard Rapport | Full Tour | ROU | 2736 | 2746 |
| 6 | GM Anish Giri | Full Tour | NED | 2767 | 2762 |
| 7 | GM Magnus Carlsen | Wildcard | NOR | 2848 | 2849 |
| 8 | GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek | Wildcard | POL | 2642 | 2685 |
| 9 | GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac | Wildcard | ROU | 2656 | 2691 |
| 10 | GM Kirill Shevchenko | Wildcard | ROU | 2607 | 2664 |
SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia: July 3-10, 2023 – Zagreb, Croatia
| # | Player Name | Player Type | Country | FIDE Rating | URS Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Ian Nepomniachtchi | Full Tour | FIDE | 2778 | 2789 |
| 2 | GM Alireza Firouzja | Full Tour | FRA | 2811 | 2795 |
| 3 | GM Fabiano Caruana | Full Tour | USA | 2781 | 2780 |
| 4 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Full Tour | POL | 2767 | 2767 |
| 5 | GM Richard Rapport | Full Tour | ROU | 2736 | 2746 |
| 6 | GM Magnus Carlsen | Wildcard | NOR | 2848 | 2849 |
| 7 | GM Viswanathan Anand | Wildcard | IND | 2739 | 2750 |
| 8 | GM Ivan Saric | Wildcard | CRO | 2624 | 2656 |
| 9 | GM Dommaraju Gukesh | Wildcard | IND | 2655 | 2690 |
| 10 | GM Constantin Lupulescu | Wildcard | ROU | 2584 | 2602 |
The confirmed fields for Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, and the Sinquefield Cup will be announced at a later date.
“We are happy to welcome back to the Grand Chess Tour World Champions Magnus Carlsen and Wiswanathan Anand”, said Michael Khodarkovsky, Executive Director of the Grand Chess Tour. “They will be challenged by young and rising stars like Gukesh and Shevchenko, which promises us thrilling and exciting competitions this year.”
Tour participants will compete for $1.4 million in cash over the course of the 2023 season, events include:
- Chess Classic Romania: May 4-16, 2023, Bucharest, Romania
- Rapid & Blitz Poland: May 19-26, 2023, Warsaw, Poland
- SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia: July 3-10, 2023, Zagreb, Croatia
- Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: November 12 – 19, 2023, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
- Sinquefield Cup: November 19 – December 3, 2023, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Chief Tour Arbiter IA Chris Bird (USA) and Deputy Chief Tour Arbiter IA Ignatius Leong (Singapore) have also been appointed arbiters for the Grand Chess Tour. The Grand Chess Tour expresses our warmest gratitude to IA David Sedgwick (England) for his talent and efforts as Chief Tour Arbiter from 2015 to 2022. Arbiters for each event will be announced at a later date. For more information, visit grandchesstour.org.
Grand Chess Tour 2023 is part World Championship Cycle
The FIDE Council has approved a cooperation agreement with the Grand Chess Tour. By virtue of this agreement, the two top finishers of the 2023 and 2025 Series will qualify for the Candidates Chess 2024 and 2026 respectively. Now: Grand Chess Tour 2022
As the Grand Chess Tour is an invitational event many questions remain unanswered. Jacob Aagard lists some of them, “Will the World Champion be allowed to participate? Will the Wild Card continue? Will a significant sponsorship package follows? Will rapid events count for the qualification?” FIDE Director General Emil Sutovsky answered that more details will follow in May after the formal contract is signed and that these points will be reviewed seriously.
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