Grand Chess Tour
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is a circuit of chess tournaments where players compete for multiple prize pools. Major tournaments that have been featured in the Grand Chess Tour include Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup, and the London Chess Classic.
History
The Grand Chess Tour was announced on April 24, 2015 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri prior to the Battle of the Legends: Garry Kasparov vs Nigel Short match. The tour was designed to promote competitive chess by including all of the top players and the 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 which would be attractive to the players and media alike.[1]
The first Grand Chess Tour took place across three tournaments, Norway Chess, the Sinquefield Cup, and the London Chess Classic with each tournament in the Grand Chess Tour having 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 across the entire circuit.[1][2]
In 2015, nine "standard" players competed in each tournament in the Grand Chess Tour, with a tenth wildcard player is selected by the organizing committee of each individual event. In 2016, there will be eight standard players, and two wildcards per event. 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, taken 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]
The point breakdown and prize money for each classical tournament is as follow:
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.
Winners
# Year Winner 1 2015 
2 2016 
3 2017
Grand Chess Tour 2015
In 2015, the Grand Chess Tour invited the top-10 players in the world ranked by the January 2015 FIDE rating list. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the 11th ranked player in January 2015, was invited as the ninth player to compete after 8th ranked Vladimir Kramnik and 10th ranked Wesley So declined to participate.[2][3] Jon Ludvig Hammer was selected to participate in the 2015 Norway Chess Tournament after qualifying through a wildcard tournament.[4] Wesley So and Michael Adams were selected to participate in the Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic, respectively.[5][6]
The results of the 2015 Grand Chess Tour. Tour points in bold indicate a tournament win.
Player FIDE Rating
December 2015Norway Chess [7] Sinquefield Cup London Chess Classic Total points Prize money 1 2834 4 10 12 26 $215,000 2 
2784 7 6 10 23 $155,000 3 
2788 2 13 7 22 $145,000 4 
2773 5 7 8 20 $90,000 5 2793 8 8 3 19 $95,000 6 
2803 13 4 1 18 $105,000 7 
2747 3 5 6 14 $60,000 8 
2796 10 2 2 14 $80,000 9 2787 6 3 4.5 13.5 $55,000 10 
2737 4.5 4.5 $20,000 11 2695 1 1 $15,000 12 2775 1 1 $15,000
Grand Chess Tour 2016
On January 6, 2016, the Altibox Norway Chess event announced it would not be part of the Grand Chess Tour in 2016.[8][9]
On February 11, 2016, the GCT announced it was adding two rapid/blitz tournaments for 2016,[10] sponsored by Colliers International France (Paris), and Your Next Move (Leuven).[11]
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 according to the 2016 January FIDE Rating List. 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.[12] 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 are based on the best three tournament results Anand remains eligible for the overall tour prizes in 2016. For the Sinquefield Cup, Vladimir Kramnik had to withdraw due to health issues and was replaced by Peter Svidler.
The wildcards were as follows:
Player Event Paris & Leuven Paris 
St Louis St Louis 
London
The results of the 2016 Grand Chess Tour. Tour points in bold indicate a tournament win.[13]
Player FIDE rating
June 2016Paris GCT Leuven GCT Sinquefield Cup London Chess Classic Total points Prize money 2770 710 13 13 36 $295,000 2787 13 44.5 7 24.5 $144,166 2804 36 7.75 10 23.75 $108,750 2855 10 13 23 $67,500 2792 6 8 7.75 321.75 $81,250 2782 7 7.75 7 21.75 $82,916 2787 8 5 4.5 317.5 $55,000 2770 4 2.5 7 13.5 $46,666 2812 5 2.5 15 12.5 $50,000 2761 2 1 7.75 110.75 $66,250 2783 3 3 $15,000 2727 3 3 $15,000 2751 2 2 $15,000 2687 1 1 $7,500
Grand Chess Tour 2017
The 2017 Grand Chess Tour consists of five events: three rapid and blitz chess, and two classical chess.[14] By January 2017, six players had qualified for the 2017 Grand Chess Tour;[15] on January 3, three wildcard selections for the tour were announced, bringing the total number of participants to nine.[16] Vladimir Kramnik declined to participate in the 2017 GCT, citing a busy summer schedule. He was replaced by Levon Aronian, the next highest rated player on the January Universal Rating System list.[17][18]
On July 5, Garry Kasparov agreed to join the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament as a wildcard.
Players
Player Qualification method URS rating
January 2017FIDE rating
January 2017GCT 2016 Winner 2789 2807 GCT 2016 Runner-Up 2796 2784 GCT 2016 3rd place 2791 2827 1st 2016 FIDE Average rating 2864 2840 2nd 2016 FIDE Average rating 2796 2811 3rd 2016 FIDE Average rating 2784 2796 WC (1st URS 1 January 2017 not picked) 2786 2767 WC (2nd URS 1 January 2017 not picked) 2786 2785 WC 2780 2786 WC (Alternate) 2780 2780 WC (Leuven) 2779 2767 WC (Paris) 2778 2742 
WC (Paris) 2775 2766 WC (Paris) 2721 2739 WC (Paris) 2689 2695 
WC (Leuven) 2702 2701 
WC (Leuven) 2768 2752 WC (Leuven) 2768 2773 WC (St. Louis) 2744 2748 WC (St. Louis Rapid & Blitz) N/A [lower-alpha 1] 2812 
WC (St. Louis Rapid & Blitz) 2756 2739 
WC (St. Louis Rapid & Blitz) 2726 2735 
WC (St. Louis Rapid & Blitz) 2731 2718 WC (London) 2739 2751
Results
Player Paris GCT
June 21 – June 25Leuven GCT
June 28 – July 2Sinquefield Cup
July 31 – August 12Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz
August 13 – August 20London Chess Classic
November 30 – December 11Total points Prize money 12 13 9 7 41 $245,417 10 8 13 7 38 $207,917 5.5 6.5 13 4 29 $91,250 8 3 9 5 25 $77,500 3 4 5 12 24 $95,000 5 6.5 9 3 23.5 $75,000 4 10 1.5 7 22.5 $79,167 4 1.5 7 10 22.5 $100,000 3 9 2 1.5 15.5 $75,000 7 7 $15,000 7 7 $15,000 6 6 $12,500 5.5 5.5 $11,250 5 5 $20,000 5 5 $10,000 5 5 $10,000 3 3 $7,500 2 2 $7,500 2 2 $7,500 1.5 1.5 $15,000 1 1 $7,500 1 1 $7,500 1 1 $7,500
Note that wildcard players are not eligible for the overall prize funds.
Grand Chess Tour 2018
Grand Chess Tour 2018 sees a format change. While the first four events retain the same rule, the last event, London Chess Classic, is replaced with a semifinal and final match consisting of classical, rapid and blitz. Top 4 players from the first four events will be invited for the final event. [19]
Results [20]
| Player | Leuven GCT June 12 – June 16 |
Paris GCT June 20 – June 24 |
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz August 10 – August 16 |
Sinquefield Cup August 17 – August 28 |
London Chess Classic | Total points | Prize money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7 | 13 | 13 | 1.5 | Q | 34.5 | $105,000 |
|
6 | 7 | 6 | 15 | Q | 34 | $95,000 |
|
9 | 6 | 10 | 6 | Q | 31 | $80,000 |
|
2 | 2 | 7 | 15 | Q[lower-alpha 2] | 26 | $85,000 |
|
13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | – | 26 | $80,000 |
|
9 | 10 | 5 | 1.5 | – | 25.5 | $72,500 |
|
4 | 3 | 8 | 10 | – | 25 | $65,000 |
|
5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | – | 18 | $45,000 |
|
3 | 5 | 1 | 6 | – | 15 | $45,000 |
|
– | – | – | 15 | – | 15 | $55,000 |
|
– | – | 4 | – | – | 4 | $7,500 |
|
1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | $7,500 |
|
– | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | $7,500 |
Notes
References
- 1 2 Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (April 24, 2015). Grand Chess Tour Press Conference - 04.24.15.
- 1 2 3 http://grandchesstour.com/content/rules-regulations Grand Chess Tour: Rules & Regulations
- ↑ https://ratings.fide.com/toparc.phtml?cod=337 Fide Ratings List: January 2015
- ↑ http://www.chessdom.com/gm-hammer-wins-entercard-scandinavian-masters-to-qualify-for-norway-chess-2015/ GM Hammer Wins Entercard Scandinavia Masters to Qualify for Norway Chess 2015
- ↑ http://grandchesstour.com/2015-sinquefield-cup/field 2015 Sinquefield Cup: The Field
- ↑ http://www.londonchessclassic.com/gct_players.htm London Chess Classic: Players 2015
- ↑ http://grandchesstour.com/content/norway-chess-2015 Results of Norway Chess 2015
- ↑ Press Release from GCT and Altibox Norway Chess
- ↑ Norway Chess leaves GCT
- ↑ Grand Tour adds two events
- ↑ 2016 GCT schedule announced
- ↑ Grand Chess Tour Announces Field For 2016 Season
- ↑ "Final Tour Standings - 2016 | Grand Chess Tour". grandchesstour.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
- ↑ "2017 Events". Grand Chess Tour.
- ↑ "The 2017 GCT field". Grand Chess Tour.
- ↑ "TGCT Announces Launch of URS™ and 2017 Wildcard Selections". Grand Chess Tour.
- ↑ "Carlsen, So In Grand Chess Tour; Kramnik Declines". Chess.com.
- ↑ "2017 GCT – Final Tour Participants And Event Allocations". Grand Chess Tour.
- ↑ https://en.chessbase.com/post/new-format-for-grand-chess-tour-2018
- ↑ "2018 Tour Standings | Grand Chess Tour". grandchesstour.org. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
External links
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