The 2018 YNM Leuven Rapid & Blitz tournament will be the first stop on the 2018 Grand Chess Tour. 2017 saw World Champion Magnus Carlsen ease to a comfortable victory but there will definitely be a new champion this year as Magnus is not returning to defend his title. New faces include Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Grischuk and Shakriyar Mamedyarov none of whom participated in the 2017 edition. They will be joined by GM Anish who will once again participate in Leuven as a Wildcard for the event.
| DATES | June 12 – 16, 2018 |
|---|---|
| LOCATION | Leuven City Hall, Belgium |
| FORMAT | 10-Player Round Robin |
| PRIZE FUND | $150,000 |
| Photos | For event photos, visit our Flickr page. |
| Commentators |
English – GM Yasser Seirawan, IM Jovanka Houska, GM Alejandro Ramirez, GM Maurice Ashley and GM Nigel Short Russian – GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko and GM Yaroslav Zherebukh |
| hotel | The Fourth Hotel bookings contact experience@th4th.com |
| Spectator Registration | Register Here |
Participants
Alexander Grischuk • Fabiano Caruana • Hikaru Nakamura • Levon Aronian • Maxime Vachier-Lagrave • Shakhriyar Mamedyarov • Sergey Karjakin • Viswanathan Anand • Wesley So • Anish Giri (WC)
Schedule CET
YNM will host an autograph session with all 10 players on Monday, June 11th from 17:00-19:00 (GMT+2). Click here to reserve your tickets.
Rapid (12– 14 June)
| Time | 12 June | 13 June | 14 June |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14.00 | Round 1 | Round 4 | Round 7 |
| 15.30 | Round 2 | Round 5 | Round 8 |
| 17.00 | Round 3 | Round 6 | Round 9 |
Blitz (15 - 16 June)
| Time | 15 June | Time | 16 June |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14.00 | Round 1 | 12:00 | Round 10 |
| 14.30 | Round 2 | 12:30 | Round 11 |
| 15.00 | Round 3 | 13:00 | Round 12 |
| 15.30 | Round 4 | 13:30 | Round 13 |
| 16.00 | Round 5 | 14:00 | Round 14 |
| 16.30 | Round 6 | 14:30 | Round 15 |
| 17.00 | Round 7 | 15:00 | Round 16 |
| 17.30 | Round 8 | 15:30 | Round 17 |
| 18.00 | Round 9 | 16:00 | Round 18 |
| 16:30 | Playoffs | ||
| 18:30 | Prizegiving |