Grand Chess Tour Names Field of Elite Players to Compete for $1.4M Purse
Grand Chess Tour, a leading global circuit of international chess tournaments featuring the world’s best players, announced today the full tour players:
| No | Player Name | Highlights | Country | FIDE Rapid Rating | URS Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Alireza Firouzja | Ranked No. 4, 2022 GCT overall winner and 2022 Sinquefield Cup winner | FRA | 2785 | 2787 |
| 2 | GM Wesley So | Ranked No. 8, 2022 GCT runner-up winner, 2021 Grand Chess Tour winner and 2021 Paris Rapid & Blitz winner | USA | 2760 | 2772 |
| 3 | GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Ranked No. 16, 2021 Grand Chess Tour runner-up winner, 2021 Sinquefield Cup winner, and 2021 Croatia Grand Chess Tour winner | FRA | 2737 | 2768 |
| 4 | GM Ian Nepomniachtchi | Ranked No. 3, the 2021 World Championship Challenger, 2022 Candidates Tournament winner, 2023 World Championship candidate | FIDE | 2793 | 2787 |
| 5 | GM Ding Liren | Ranked No. 2, 2022 Candidates Tournament runner-up winner and 2023 World Championship candidate | CHN | 2811 | 2797 |
| 6 | GM Anish Giri | Ranked No. 7, four time Dutch champion and 2023 Tata Steel Masters winner | NED | 2764 | 2762 |
| 7 | GM Fabiano Caruana | Ranked No. 6, 2022 American Cup winner and 2022 U.S. Championship winner | USA | 2766 | 2776 |
| 8 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Ranked No. 21, 2021 FIDE World Cup winner and 2022 Candidates Tournament qualifier | POL | 2729 | 2767 |
| 9 | GM Richard Rapport (Wild Card) | Ranked No. 15, 2022 FIDE Grand Prix winner and 2022 Candidates tournament qualifier | ROU | 2740 | 2745 |
Full tour player invitations for the 2023 GCTs 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.
“Now in our eighth year, we are proud to feature one of the strongest fields in tour’s history – including the player who will be crowned the 2023 World Champion this spring,” said GCT Executive Director, Michael Khodarkovsky. “Thanks to our sponsors, Superbet Foundation and Saint Louis Chess Club, the Grand Chess Tour continues its quest to promote chess around the world by bringing the best of the best players to compete for the one of the most prestigious titles of the year.”
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.
The 2023 tour schedule consists of five tournaments as follows:
Superbet Chess Classic Romania: May 4-16, 2023, Bucharest, Romania
Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland: May 19-26, 2023, Warsaw, Poland
SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia: July 3-10, 2023, Zagreb, Croatia
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: November 12 – 19, 2023, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Sinquefield Cup: November 19 – December 3, 2023, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Tour participants will compete for a $1.4M prize fund over the course of the 2023 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 totalling $175,000 will be awarded to the top three overall tour finishers.
The prize fund is provided by the 2023 Grand Chess Tour major sponsors Superbet Foundation and 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.