Tour Features One of the Strongest Fields of All-Time including Reigning Grand Chess Tour Winner and 2024 World Championship Contenders
Saint Louis, MO, February 22, 2024
Grand Chess Tour (GCT), a leading global circuit of international chess tournaments featuring the world’s best players, announced today the players selected to compete in the full 2024 tour.
| Player Name | Highlights | Country | URS Rating | FIDE Standard Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM Fabiano Caruana | Ranked No. 2, World Championship Candidates 2024 contender, 2023 GCT Overall Winner, 2023 Sinquefield Cup and Rapid & Blitz Winner; 2023 FIDE Circuit | USA | 2789 | 2804 |
| GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Ranked No. 19, 2023 GCT runner-up winner | FRA | 2766 | 2732 |
| GM Wesley So | Ranked No. 8, 2022 GCT runner-up winner, 2021 Grand Chess Tour winner and 2021 Paris Rapid & Blitz winner | USA | 2765 | 2757 |
| GM Gukesh Dommaraju | Ranked No. 16, second youngest grandmaster in history, 2023 FIDE Circuit runner up; World Championship Candidates 2024 contender | IND | 2719 | 2743 |
| GM Ian Nepomniachtchi | Ranked No. 7, World Championship Candidates 2024 contender, 2021 World Championship Challenger, 2022 Candidates Tournament winner, 2023 World Championship Runner-up | FIDE | 2774 | 2758 |
| GM Alireza Firouzja | Ranked No. 6, World Championship Candidates 2024 contender, 2022 GCT overall winner and 2022 Sinquefield Cup winner | FRA | 2743 | 2760 |
| GM Anish Giri | Ranked No. 5, four time Dutch champion and 2023 Tata Steel Masters winner | NED | 2758 | 2762 |
| GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa | Ranked No. 13, one of the youngest grandmasters and world championship candidates of all time | IND | 2759 | 2747 |
| GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Ranked No. 15, 2021 World Rapid Championship winner | UZB | 2759 | 2744 |
* Ratings as of February 2024
2024 Grand Chess Tour (GCT) Details
Full tour player invitations for the 2024 GCT edition were extended to nine players. Three players qualified by finishing 1st through 3rd in the 2022 Grand Chess Tour. The remaining 6 were invited based on a number of factors, including URS rating, FIDE rating, fighting spirit, and sportsmanship.
Tournament Participation
The full tour participants will play in both classical events as well as in two of the three rapid and blitz tournaments. The wildcard participants for the three rapid and blitz events scheduled to take place in Warsaw, Zagreb, and Saint Louis will be announced as they become available.
2024 Tour Schedule
- Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz: May 6-13, 2024 in Warsaw, Poland
- Superbet Romania Classic: June 24-July 6, 2024 in Bucharest, Romania
- SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz: July 8-15, 2024 in Zagreb, Croatia
- Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: August 10-17, 2024 in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
- Sinquefield Cup: August 17-31, 2024 in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Tour participants will compete for a recently increased prize purse of $1.5 million over the course of the 2024 season. The prize fund 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 totaling $275,000 will be awarded.
The prize fund is provided by the 2024 Grand Chess Tour 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 to a worldwide audience.
For more information, visit grandchesstour.org.