Grand Chess Tour Announces Wildcards and Full-Tour Line-up

Saint Louis, MO, April 2, 2024Grand Chess Tour (GCT), a leading global circuit of international chess tournaments featuring the world’s best players, announced today the players selected to compete across the 2024 season.

Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz: May 6-13, 2024 in Warsaw, Poland

Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz, sponsored by the Superbet Foundation, will kick off the GCT as 10 players battle for $175,000 in prizes. The event will feature four full-tour players and six wildcard players including:

  • Five-time World Champion & World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
  • Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland)
  • Wei Yi (China)
  • Arjun Erigaisi (India)
  • Vincent Keymer (Germany)
  • Kirill Shevchenko (Romania)

Superbet Romania Classic: June 24-July 6, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania

The Superbet Romania Chess Classic, sponsored by the Superbet Foundation, is the first classical event in the 2024 Tour, with a 10-player round-robin format and a total of $350,000 in prizes. The tournament will feature all nine full-tour players and one wildcard player including:

  • Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania)

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz: July 8-15, 2024 in Zagreb, Croatia

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz is the second rapid and blitz event of the tour with a total prize fund of $175,000. This event will feature seven full-tour players and three wildcard players including:

  • Five-time World Champion & World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
  • Vidit Gujrathi (India)
  • Ivan Saric (Croatia)

Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: August 10-17, 2024 in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, sponsored by the Saint Louis Chess Club, will be the third and final rapid and blitz event of the tour, with another $175,000 in prize money on the line. This event will feature seven full-tour players and three wildcard players including:

  • Hikaru Nakamura (United States)
  • Levon Aronian (United States)
  • Leinier Dominguez (United States)

Sinquefield Cup: August 17-30, 2024 in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

The Sinquefield Cup, sponsored by the Saint Louis Chess Club, will offer a $350,000 prize fund and will be the final opportunity for competitors to earn points for the 2024 Grand Chess Tour. This event will feature nine full-tour players and one wildcard player including:

  • Reigning World Champion Ding Liren (China)

The complete field for all international events are as follows:

 

No.

Given Name

Surname

Role

URS Rating

FIDE Standard

Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz

1

Magnus

Carlsen

Event Wildcard

2844

2830

2

Yi

Wei

Event Wildcard

2770

2755

3

Nodirbek

Abdusattorov

Full Tour

2765

2765

4

Praggnanandhaa

Rameshbabu

Full Tour

2758

2747

5

Jan-Krzysztof

Duda

Event Wildcard

2758

2731

6

Anish

Giri

Full Tour

2749

2745

7

Arjun

Erigaisi

Event Wildcard

2743

2756

8

Gukesh

Dommaraju

Full Tour

2726

2743

9

Vincent

Keymer

Event Wildcard

2702

2726

10

Kirill

Shevchenko

Event Wildcard

2678

2675

 

2749

2747

Superbet Romania Chess Classic

1

Fabiano

Caruana

Full Tour

2786

2803

2

Ian

Nepomniachtchi

Full Tour

2776

2758

3

Alireza

Firouzja

Full Tour

2771

2760

4

Nodirbek

Abdusattorov

Full Tour

2765

2765

5

Wesley

So

Full Tour

2762

2757

6

Maxime

Vachier-Lagrave

Full Tour

2760

2732

7

Praggnanandhaa

Rameshbabu

Full Tour

2758

2747

8

Anish

Giri

Full Tour

2749

2745

9

Gukesh

Dommaraju

Full Tour

2726

2743

10

Bogdan-Daniel

Deac

Event Wildcard

2684

2692

 

2754

2750

SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz

1

Magnus

Carlsen

Event Wildcard

2844

2830

2

Fabiano

Caruana

Full Tour

2786

2803

3

Ian

Nepomniachtchi

Full Tour

2776

2758

4

Alireza

Firouzja

Full Tour

2771

2760

5

Wesley

So

Full Tour

2762

2757

6

Maxime

Vachier-Lagrave

Full Tour

2760

2732

7

Anish

Giri

Full Tour

2749

2745

8

Vidit

Guadrathi

Event Wildcard

2744

2727

9

Gukesh

Dommaraju

Full Tour

2726

2743

10

Ivan

Saric

Event Wildcard

2649

2670

       

2757

2753

Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz

1

Hikaru

Nakamura

Event Wildcard

2795

2789

2

Fabiano

Caruana

Full Tour

2786

2803

3

Ian

Nepomniachtchi

Full Tour

2776

2758

4

Alireza

Firouzja

Full Tour

2771

2760

5

Nodirbek

Abdusattorov

Full Tour

2765

2765

6

Wesley

So

Full Tour

2762

2757

7

Maxime

Vachier-Lagrave

Full Tour

2760

2732

8

Praggnanandhaa

Rameshbabu

Full Tour

2758

2747

9

Levon

Aronian

Event Wildcard

2754

2729

10

Leinier

Dominguez

Event Wildcard

2722

2748

 

2765

2759

Sinquefield Cup

1

Fabiano

Caruana

Full Tour

2786

2803

2

Ian

Nepomniachtchi

Full Tour

2776

2758

3

Alireza

Firouzja

Full Tour

2771

2760

4

Nodirbek

Abdusattorov

Full Tour

2765

2765

5

Wesley

So

Full Tour

2762

2757

6

Liren

Ding

Event Wildcard

2761

2762

7

Maxime

Vachier-Lagrave

Full Tour

2760

2732

8

Praggnanandhaa

Rameshbabu

Full Tour

2758

2747

9

Anish

Giri

Full Tour

2749

2745

10

Gukesh

Dommaraju

Full Tour

2726

2743

 

2761

2757

 

“We are happy to welcome back reigning World Champion Ding Liren and five-time World Champion, World's No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, as well as 2023 Grand Chess Tour champion Fabiano Caruana and former winners of the GCT Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave,” said Michael Khodarkovsky, Executive Director of the GCT. “They will be challenged by the new wave of stars like Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Alireza Firouzja, Dommaraju Gukesh and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, which promises us thrilling and exciting competitions this year.”
 

Tour participants will compete for an increased overall tour prize fund of $1.5 million over the course of the 2024 season. Total cash prizes 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 totalling $275,000 will be awarded at the end of the 2024 season.

The prize fund is provided by the 2024 GCT major sponsors Superbet Foundation and the Saint Louis Chess Club, both non-profit organizations that support chess education and the mission to expand the game of chess globally. For more information, visit grandchesstour.org.

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Grand Chess Tour  

Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world's best players. 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. All Grand Chess Tour 2024 events will comply with local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. For more information about the tour, please visit grandchesstour.org.

Superbet Foundation

The Superbet Foundation, a non-profit organization, is responsible for coordinating the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of the Superbet Group. Our goal is to support the advancement of health, education, and sports initiatives, with a special emphasis on promoting the game of chess and its myriad benefits within all the communities we serve.

Saint Louis Chess Club

The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures. 

 

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org.