Saint Louis, MO, April 9, 2019– The Cote d’Ivoire Rapid & Blitz is the first leg of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour and is scheduled to be held in Abidjan from May 8 until May 12, 2019. The tournament has special significance as it will be the first GCT tournament to be held on the African continent. It will also mark the official return of World Champion Magnus Carlsen as a full tour participant. The participation of GM Carlsen also represents a significant milestone for the development of chess on the African continent as the event will be the first African tournament in history to include the reigning World Champion amongst its participants.
Saint Louis, MO, March 12, 2019– The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) has opted for a mix of youth and experience in selecting the six wildcards that will participate in the forthcoming rapid and blitz tournaments in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and Paris, France. The following six players have accepted wildcard invitations and will showcase their talents alongside the seven full tour participants in each event.
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 both World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen and 2018 GCT Champion Hikaru Nakamura participating in the rapid and blitz events in both Africa and Asia.
Saint Louis, MO, February 7, 2019– The Grand Chess Tour is pleased to confirm the names of the twelve players that will be competing as full tour participants in 2019.
Saint Louis, MO, January 24, 2019– The fifth edition of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) will see the tour expand to eight tournaments and increase the number of full tour participants to twelve. The tour will also welcome fourteen event level wildcards in 2019. Tour participants will fight for a record prize fund of $1.75 million as the GCT expands its reach to four continents to include tournaments in Africa, Asia, Europe and America. The prize money on offer for the classical tournaments has been increased to $325,000 per event ($90,000 for 1st place and $60,000 for 2nd) while the prize fund for the GCT Finals in London will also be raised to $350,000 ($150,000 for 1st place and $100,000 for 2nd).
Saint Louis, MO, December 17, 2018 – The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is pleased to announce that the 2019 Grand Chess Tour will be expanded to include a minimum of six regular season events. The tour will once again culminate in a Final featuring matches between the top placed qualifiers. Three exciting new events are already confirmed for 2019 including tournaments in Africa and Asia for the first-time.
Just days after the end of his World Championship match in London against Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana will be pitting his wits against Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the Grand Chess Tour Finals at the London Chess Classic, which this year will be a four-player knockout supported by our new sponsor the Lohia Foundation.
The Grand Chess Tour is pleased to announce that reigning World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen from Norway and GM Leinier Dominguez Perez from Cuba have both accepted wildcard invitations to participate in the 2018 Grand Chess Tour at our forthcoming tournaments in Saint Louis, USA in August 2018.
The third edition of the Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz chess tournament will be held in June 2018, with Alexander Grischuk, Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Sergey Karjakin, Viswanathan Anand and Wesley So!
