World Champion and GCT Champion to play in Africa and Asia as part of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour
World Champion and GCT Champion to play in Africa and Asia as part of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour
Saint Louis, MO, February 19, 2019 – The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is pleased to announce that the 2019 GCT tournament roster has been finalised and the schedule will see World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen and 2018 GCT Champion Hikaru Nakamura participating in the rapid and blitz events in both Africa and Asia. The twelve full tour players will participate in the following events with scheduling having been finalised in cooperation with FIDE to avoid direct clashes with the Grand Prix series.
| Event | Cote d’Ivoire R&B | Paris R&B | St Louis R&B | Superbet R&B | Tata Steel India R&B |
| Date | May 6 – 13 | July 26 – August 2 | August 8 – 15 | November 4 – 11 | November 20 – 27 |
| City | Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire | Paris, France | St Louis, USA | Bucharest, Romania | Kolkata, India |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | Nakamura, Hikaru | Carlsen, Magnus | Caruana, Fabiano | Carlsen, Magnus |
| 2 | Nakamura, Hikaru | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | Nakamura, Hikaru |
| 3 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | Caruana, Fabiano | Caruana, Fabiano | Aronian, Levon | Ding, Liren |
| 4 | Ding, Liren | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | So, Wesley | Aronian, Levon |
| 5 | So, Wesley | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | Ding, Liren | Karjakin, Sergey | So, Wesley |
| 6 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | Giri, Anish | Aronian, Levon | Giri, Anish | Nepomniachtchi, Ian |
| 7 | Karjakin, Sergey | Anand, Viswanathan | Karjakin, Sergey | Anand, Viswanathan | Giri, Anish |
| 8 | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Anand, Viswanathan |
| 9 | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) |
| 10 | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) | Wildcard (TBC) |
All twelve full tour participants will also participate in the Croatia GCT tournament and in the Sinquefield Cup before the top four qualifiers proceed to the season ending GCT Finals in London in December.
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About the Grand Chess Tour
The Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world’s best players. The Tour was created in partnership between the St Louis Chess Club (Sinquefield Cup) and Chess Promotions, Ltd. (London Chess Classic). The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the world’s greatest ambassadors for chess, inspired the Grand Chess Tour and helped solidify the partnership between the organizers
