2021 Grand Chess Tour Is Ready To Kick Off With the First Two Legs In Bucharest and Paris

 For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Buffington
GCT Public Relations
Email: press@grandchesstour.org

2021 Grand Chess Tour Is Ready To Kick Off With the First Two Legs In Bucharest and Paris

Superbet Romania Chess Classic and GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz Fields Update

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 – The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) has confirmed new players in the field for the upcoming Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest, Romania and Paris Rapid & Blitz tournament.

Hungarian Grandmaster Richard Rapport has been confirmed as a full tour player to replace Grandmaster Ding Liren from China and Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi will become a wildcard player for specific Grand Chess Tour events as he prepares for the World Championship title match later this year.  The Superbet Chess Classic will now include a wildcard player, Romanian Grandmaster Constantin Lupulescu.  The Superbet Chess Classic is sponsored by Superbet Foundation and will feature a 10 player round-robin battle for a total of $325,000 in prize money.

Continually looking for new ways to innovate, the GCT selected split wildcards for Paris. Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik will compete in the blitz portion while French Grandmaster Etienne Bacrot will team up with Kramnik to represent the duo in the rapid phase of the tournament. Their combined score will be used to determine final standings.  Three additional wildcards will round out the field for the Paris Rapid & Blitz leg. These wildcards include World Champion Challenger, Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi,  Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja, and Grandmaster Peter Svidler. The Paris Rapid & Blitz tournament is sponsored by Vivendi, Colliers, and Kasparov Chess and will include 9 rounds of rapid chess and 18 rounds of blitz chess for a total prize fund of $150,000.

“Although COVID-19 has continued to impact the chess community, we are pleased that this year’s tour will continue as planned with our five over the board tournaments,” said GCT Executive Director, Michael Khodarkovsky. “Fans will certainly enjoy watching legends like Vladimir Kramnik square off against a new generation of young top players like Alireza Firouzja and Richard Rapport.”

Additionally, International Arbiter David Sedgwick from England has been reappointed as the GCT Chief Arbiter for 2021. 

The field for the two upcoming international events are finalized and are as follows:

Superbet Romania Chess Classic, June 3 - 15, 2021

GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz, June 17-22, 2021

The confirmed fields for Croatia Rapid and Blitz, Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz, and the Sinquefield Cup will be announced when they become available. Watch all the action live exclusively on grandchesstour.org, Twitch.tv, and kasparovchess.com.

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About the Grand Chess Tour™ 

The 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 2021 events will comply with local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. 

The GCT is sponsored by the Superbet Foundation, Vivendi, Colliers International, Kasparovchess, and the Saint Louis Chess Club. All Grand Chess Tour 2021 events will comply with local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. For more information about the tour, please visit grandchesstour.org.