The 2019 Grand Chess Tour (GCT) was a year of increased competition, drama and excitement. The tour brought four new tournaments to the competition and an increase in the number of participants to twelve, and 14 wildcard seats, all fighting for a piece of the record-high prize fund of $1.75 million.

The classical tournament prizes increased to $325,000 per event, and the prize fund for the GCT Finals in London was raised to $350,000. The new tournaments stretched the GCT further across the world, including 4 continents with the new Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), Kolkata (India), Bucharest (Romania) and Zagreb (Croatia) locations.