The Grand Chess Tour was announced on April 24, 2015, at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri, before the "Battle of the Legends", a match between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short. The tour was designed to promote competitive chess by including all of the top players and then-World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a single circuit. With the combination of several established tournaments, the Grand Chess Tour aimed to create a large prize pool that would be attractive to the players and media alike.[1]
Held in 2015, the first Grand Chess Tour included three tournaments—Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup, and the London Chess Classic—each with the same prize fund, structure, and time controls. The overall prize pool for the first Grand Chess Tour was $1,050,000, with $300,000 for each tournament and a $150,000 prize for the top three players.[1][2] Nine "standard" players competed in each tournament, with a tenth wildcard player selected by the organizing committee of each tournament. Players earn tour points based on their performance at each event. The top three players who accumulate the most tour points across all events receive extra prize money from the Grand Chess Tour prize fund and automatic invitations to the following year's Grand Chess Tour. Wildcard players receive tour points for any tournaments in which they participate.[2]
In 2016, there were eight standard players and two wildcards per event.
The point breakdown and prize money for each classical tournament is:
Place
Points
Event standings
Overall standings
1st
13/12*
$75,000
$75,000
2nd
10
$50,000
$50,000
3rd
8
$40,000
$25,000
4th
7
$30,000
5th
6
$25,000
6th
5
$20,000
7th
4
$15,000
8th
3
$15,000
9th
2
$15,000
10th
1
$15,000
If a player shares 1st place and wins the tiebreak (*), they earn 12 points rather than the 13 points awarded to an outright winner.
Rapid and blitz events have the prize money halved.
On January 6, 2016, the AltiboxNorway Chess event announced it would not be part of the Grand Chess Tour in 2016.[10][11]
On February 11, 2016, the GCT announced it was adding two rapid/blitz tournaments for 2016,[12] sponsored by Colliers International France (Paris), and Your Next Move (Leuven).[13]
For 2016, an initial roster of eight players was created based upon the rules published on the GCT website. The Initial Roster consisted of the three top finishers in the 2015 GCT and the next five highest players by rating will be the average of each monthly FIDE supplement from February through December inclusive, as well as the live ratings after the 2015 London Chess Classic. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was subsequently added to the roster as the GCT Wild Card Player for all 4 events.
World Champion Magnus Carlsen declined participation in the two classic events but competed as a wild card in the rapid/blitz tournaments held in both Paris and Leuven.[14] All other players accepted the invitations for all four tournaments with the exception of Viswanathan Anand who declined the invitation to the Paris tournament. Since GCT Tour Points were based on the best three tournament results, Anand remained eligible for the overall tour prizes. For the Sinquefield Cup, Vladimir Kramnik had to withdraw due to health issues and was replaced by Peter Svidler.
The 2017 Grand Chess Tour consisted of five events: three rapid and blitz chess, and two classical chess.[16] By January 2017, six players had qualified for the 2017 Grand Chess Tour;[17] on January 3, three wildcard selections for the tour were announced, bringing the total number of participants to nine.[18]Vladimir Kramnik declined to participate in the 2017 GCT, citing a busy summer schedule. He was replaced by Levon Aronian.[19][20]
On July 5, Garry Kasparov agreed to join the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament as a wildcard.
The Grand Chess Tour 2018 saw a format change. While the first four events retained the same rules, the last event – the London Chess Classic – served as the semifinals and finals for the top four players from the first four events and consisted of a classical, rapid and blitz section. After tying for fourth place, Fabiano Caruana qualified for the final event by beating Wesley So in a playoff 1½–½. Hikaru Nakamura emerged victorious at the London Chess Classic and clinched the Grand Chess Tour's top prize by beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the blitz section.[22]
Semifinals and finals at the London Chess Classic (2018)
In 2018, the London Chess Classic served as the semifinals and finals for the top four players from the 2018 Grand Chess Tour.
The players played 2 classical games, 2 rapid games, and 4 blitz games. 6 points were awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in classical play. In the rapid games, 4 points were awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In the blitz games, 2 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.
After seven consecutive draws that opened his final match with Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura clinched an event victory by defeating Vachier-Lagrave in the fourth and final blitz game.[23][24]
The 2019 Grand Chess Tour featured 8 tournaments, with 12 full participants and 14 wild card participants. Of the first 7 tournaments, 5 were rapid/blitz tournaments and 2 were classical tournaments. The 12 full participants played in the classical events and in 3 of the 5 rapid/blitz tournaments. As in 2018, the top 4 players after the 7 events qualified for the GCT Finals at the London Chess Classic.[25]
As in 2018, the London Chess Classic served as the semifinals and finals for the top four players from the 2019 Grand Chess Tour.
The players played 2 classical games, 2 rapid games, and 4 blitz games.
In classical play, 6 points were awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss.
In the rapid games, 4 points were awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.
In the blitz games, 2 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.
All games were played, even after the match result had been decided.
Vachier-Lagrave won the rapid playoff against Carlsen 1½–½ to advance to the final.
The 2020 Grand Chess Tour was to feature 5 tournaments, with 10 full participants and 10 wild card participants. 3 tournaments were to be rapid/blitz tournaments and 2 were to have been classical tournaments. The 10 full participants would have played in the classical events and in 2 of the 3 rapid/blitz tournaments. Unlike previous years, there was scheduled to be no Grand Chess Tour finals, due to a busy chess schedule, which includes the Candidates Tournament and the World Chess Championship match.[27]
The Grand Chess Tour 2021 was held in 2021 with the same 5 Tournaments as the cancelled 2020 Tournament was to have. There were 9 full tour participants who were supposed to play in both Classical Tournaments as well as 2 out of the 3 rapid and blitz tournaments. There were also to be 10 wildcards participants who played in one of the rapid and blitz events. Due to travel restrictions, not all Tour players competed in both classical tournaments, and there ended up being 19 wildcards.[29]
The Grand Chess Tour 2022 was held in 2022 with 5 tournaments, with the Superbet Rapid & Blitz in Poland replacing the Paris GCT Rapid & Blitz from the previous Grand Chess Tour. There were 9 full tour participants who were supposed to play in both Classical Tournaments as well as 2 out of the 3 rapid and blitz tournaments. There were also 9 wildcards participants who played in one of the rapid and blitz events.[31]
The Grand Chess Tour 2023 is being held in 2023 with the same 5 tournaments as the previous edition. There are 9 full tour participants who were supposed to play in both Classical Tournaments as well as 2 out of the 3 rapid and blitz tournaments. As each tournament will have 10 players, the extra spots will be filled by wildcards.
The tour points were awarded as follows:
Place
1st OR
1st PO
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Points
13
12
10
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
If a player wins 1st place outright (without the need for a playoff), they are awarded 13 points instead of 12.
Tour points are shared equally between tied players.
Results
The wildcards (in italics) are not counted in overall standings.
The Grand Chess Tour 2024 is being held in 2024 with the same 5 tournaments as the previous edition. There are 9 full tour participants who were supposed to play in both Classical Tournaments as well as 2 out of the 3 rapid and blitz tournaments.[37] As each tournament will have 10 players, the extra spots will be filled by wildcards.
^Although representing Italy when the roster was announced, Fabiano Caruana has switched federations and played under the flag of the United States after Norway Chess[8][9]
^Kasparov played under both Russian and Croatian flags
^Kasparov did not have a URS rating due to inactivity from the years 2005 to 2017.
^Bacrot and Kramnik competed as a team, with Bacrot playing the Rapid portion and Kramnik playing the Blitz portion.
^Šarić and Kasparov competed as a team, with Šarić playing the Rapid portion and Kasparov playing the Blitz portion.
^Russian players' flags are displayed as the FIDE flag due to FIDE banning Russian and Belarusian flags from FIDE-rated events in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[33]
^Nepomniachtchi is Russian, but plays under the FIDE flag due to FIDE banning Russian and Belarusian flags from FIDE-rated events in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[35]
^Ding withdrew before the Poland Rapid and Blitz event took place, citing fatigue. As a result of this change, Levon Aronian was chosen as a wildcard to replace him for the event.[36]
^Fischer, Johannes (2018-12-14). "London Classic: Nakamura and Vachier-Lagrave advance to Final". Chessbase.com. Retrieved 2018-12-18. Vachier-Lagrave qualified to the finals and the remaining two games served to entertain the spectators. The players traded points, leaving the final tally in the match at 18:10 the same as the score between Nakamura and Caruana.
