Grand Chess Tour players announced
The Grand Chess Tour, a premier global series of international chess tournaments featuring the best players worldwide, has released its list of full tour players for the 2023 edition. Nine players have been invited to participate in the full tour, with three qualifying by finishing in the top three in the 2022 Grand Chess Tour, and the remaining six invited based on various criteria such as URS rating, FIDE rating, fighting spirit, and sportsmanship.
GCT Executive Director, Michael Khodarkovsky, said:
“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. 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 players include:
| 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 |
Grand Chess Tour tournament dates
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
About the Grand Chess Tour tournament circuit
These full tour participants will compete in classical events as well as two of the three rapid and blitz tournaments. The wildcard participants for the three rapid and blitz events taking place in Warsaw, Zagreb, and Saint Louis will be announced as they become available.
Players will compete for a $1.4M prize fund throughout the 2023 season. The prize fund for each of the two classical tournaments will be $350,000, while the prize fund for each rapid and blitz event will be $175,000. Additionally, a bonus prize fund of $175,000 will be awarded to the top three overall tour finishers.
The Superbet Foundation and Saint Louis Chess Club, both non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting chess education and expanding the game to a global audience, are the major sponsors providing the prize fund for the 2023 Grand Chess Tour.
The Grand Chess Tour aims to showcase the highest level of organization and competition for the world’s best players, with legendary player Garry Kasparov serving as one of the greatest ambassadors for chess, inspiring the tour’s creation and helping cement the partnership between organizers. All events of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour will adhere to local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. To learn more about the tour, visit grandchesstour.org.
Image Credits
In-Article Image Credits
Chess pieces – left to right: king, rook, queen, pawn, knight and bishop via Wikimedia Commons by Alan Light with usage type - GNU FreeFeatured Image Credit
Chess pieces – left to right: king, rook, queen, pawn, knight and bishop via Wikimedia Commons by Alan Light with usage type - GNU Free
