The 2024 edition of the Grand Chess Tour will kick off with the Poland Rapid and Blitz leg on Wednesday, May 8. (More Chess News)
The Grand Chess Tour is a year-long tournament consisting of five legs across various formats. It attracts the top players in the world, who compete to accumulate points and vie for significant cash prizes. Initiated in 2015 as a three-legged event, the Grand Chess Tour has since expanded to five legs.
Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen emerged as the winner of the inaugural tournament in 2015.
Selection Criteria:
The 2024 Grand Chess Tour features a strong lineup of chess elite competing for an increased $1.5 million prize fund across five tournaments.
Nine full-tour players were selected based on the following criteria
- The top three finishers from the 2023 Grand Chess Tour
- Six players invited based on their URS rating, FIDE rating, fighting spirit, and sportsmanship
Which are the five legs of Grand Chess Tour 2024?
2024 SUPERBET RAPID & BLITZ POLAND- Warsaw, Poland, May 8 - 12 - Tournament starts at 4:30 pm IST (Ongoing)
2024 SUPERBET ROMANIA CHESS CLASSIC- Bucharest, Romania, June 25 - July 6
2024 SUPERUNITED CROATIA RAPID & BLITZ- Zagreb, Croatia, July 8 - 14
2024 SAINT LOUIS RAPID & BLITZ, Saint Louis, United States, August 10 - 17
2024 SINQUEFIELD CUP- Missouri, USA, August 18-29
Who all will be participating in Grand Chess Tour 2024?
These nine players are required to play both the classical tournaments and two of the three rapid and blitz tournaments. In addition to these nine, GCT will also offer wildcard entries to other top players.
GM Fabiano Caruana, the 2023 GCT overall winner, leads the full-tour lineup, which also includes GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM Alireza GM Firouzja, GM Anish Giri, GM Wesley So, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and GM Gukesh Dommaraju.
Event wildcards, featuring top players like World Champion Ding Liren and five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen, will join the full-tour participants in the rapid and blitz events and the Sinquefield Cup, adding to the excitement and competitiveness of the 2024 tour.
Spotlight On Indians
This is the first time in GCT history that three Indians—D. Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R. Praggnandhaa will be taking part.
Other than Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, who received full tour invitations, two other Indians have received wildcards for GCT. Arjun Erigaisi will be as wild card in Poland and Vidit Gujrathi will be seen in action in Croatia.
What is the prize money for Grand Chess Tour 2024?
Participants in the tour will now compete for an increased prize purse of $1.5 million throughout the 2024 season. The prize fund for each of the two classical tournaments will be $350,000, while the rapid and blitz events will offer $175,000 per event. Additionally, there will be a bonus prize fund totaling $275,000.
Where to watch Grand Chess Tour 2024?
Indian chess lovers can see the live streaming on Saint Louis Chess Club's YouTube channel (Click Here To See The Live)
