grand chess tour 2022 wiki

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The 2022 Grand Chess Tour is off with the Superbet Chess Classic now underway

The 2022 Grand Chess Tour will feature a wide variety of players from the top 20 of the world rankings. The five-legged event will feature classical and rapid/blitz events alike and a wide variety of exciting wildcard players. Last year’s Grand Chess Tour was won by Wesley So, who is back to defend his title.

The Superbet Chess Classic in Romania returns to kick off the tour proceedings again. The winner of the 2021 event was Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who is also back in the field, hoping for a repeat victory. Carlsen’s last challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi and world No. 3 Alireza Firouzja are also here to provide a star-studded cast for the drama that is about to unfold on the chessboard.

What is the format of the Grand Chess Tour?

The Grand Chess Tour is a series of elite-level chess tournaments, culminating in the prestigious Sinquefield Cup in the Saint Louis Chess Club. The 2022 season of the Tour will feature two events with classical time controls (90 minutes + 30 seconds per move, with 30 minutes added after move 40) and three with faster, rapid and blitz format games.

The Tour has nine “full participants” and wildcard players who join the field for particular events across the season. The list of the full participants is as follows:

• Alireza Firouzja (world No. 3)
• Fabiano Caruana (world No. 4)
• Richárd Rapport (world No. 5)
• Ian Nepomniachtchi (world No. 6)
• Wesley So (world No. 7)
• Levon Aronian (world No. 8)
• Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (world No. 9)
• Leinier Dominguez Perez (world No. 12)
• Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (world No. 16)

The first event of the Tour, Superbet Chess Classic Romania, will take place between May 3 and 15, featuring Bogdan-Daniel Deac (world No. 68) as the wildcard player. Just a day later, the Tour continues with the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland tournament, starting May 17 and ending May 24.

What to expect from the Superbet Chess Classic event

Considering the upcoming Candidates Tournament (which is the brawl that determines world champion Magnus Carlsen’s next challenger ) and all other high-level chess events nearby on the calendar, this is an incredibly strong field to kick off the year’s Grand Chess Tour. This is one of the select few events young prodigy Alireza Firouzja will attend before the Candidates, and his performances will be a very important barometer for the chess community.

With most tournament organizers shunning Russian players in light of the war in Ukraine, this event marks a similar milestone for Ian Nepomniachtchi. Though the world No. 6 fizzled out against Magnus in spectacular fashion last year, there’s a reason he made it to the title match in the first place. It’s rare to see someone bounce back after losing such a contest, and just like with Firouzja, Nepo’s level of play will be an invaluable insight for fans and competitors alike into what to expect from the Candidates Tournament.

The American contingent will no doubt also continue its internal battle for the No. 1 spot. Caruana triumphed over Aronian and So in the inaugural American Cup and has a chance to do again here. To do so would push him back towards the magical 2800 barrier, a rating he no doubt would love to get back as soon as possible.

Chess Calendar 2022

The 2022 chess calendar is full of strong tournaments, which will be held over the board as well as online. Many eyes will be on the 2022 Candidates tournament, which will start in June.

January 2022

84th tata steel 2022 | january 14th - 30th.

The 84th Tata Steel Chess Tournament is being held in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Having two sections, the Masters and Challengers.

Featuring Magnus, Fabiano, Anish among many other top grandmasters in the Masters section, which is a 14-player round robin of classical chess.

Official Website | Masters' Broadcast | Challengers' Broadcast

Gibchess Battle of the Sexes | January 23rd - February 3rd

The battle of sexes; classical chess between a team of 10 men and women, of equal playing strength. There will be a total of 10 rounds, played in the Garrison Library in Gibraltar.

Men's Team - Average Rating 2465 - Average Age 31

Women's Team - Average Rating 2450 - Average Age 33

£100,000 prize fund

Official Website | Players | Broadcast

February 2022

Fide grand prix series (1/3) | february 3rd - 17th.

The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 is a tournament divided into three legs. The first one will take place from the 4th to 17th January 2022, in the city centre at Under den Linden in Berlin, Germany.

The tournament features 24 grandmasters, from which 12 are super-grandmasters. Each player will play in two out of the three of the legs. That results in 16 players per leg.

In this leg, the players are divided into four pools of four, and the players in each pool play a double round-robin mini-tournament. The four winners of the pools progress to the second stage.

The second leg will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, while the third stage will take place in Berlin, Germany again. The top two finishers of the tournament will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2022.

Players | Official Website | Group Stage Broadcast | Knockout Stage Broadcast

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (1/6)| February 19th - 27th

The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour will feature a total of nine tournaments. (six Minors, two Majors and a Final)

The tournaments will be played online and the time control will be Rapid.

Official Website | Preliminary Stage Broadcast | Knockout Stage Broadcast

FIDE Grand Prix Series (2/3) | February 28th - March 14th

The second leg of the Grand Prix series will be held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (2/6) | March 19th - 27th

The second minor event of the Champions Chess Tour will be held in March.

FIDE Grand Prix Series (3/3) | March 21st - April 4th

The third and final leg of the Grand Prix series will be held in Berlin, Germany.

European Individual Chess Championship | March 24th - April 5th

The European Individual Championship will be held in Terme Catez, Slovenia. It attracts the top players from Europe to battle for the European Champion title. This event also acts as a qualifier for the FIDE World Cup.

Official Website | Broadcast

Reykjavik Open | April 6th - 12th

One of the strongest open tournaments, the Reykjavik Open will be held between April 6th and 12th in Reykjavik, Iceland.

https://www.reykjavikopen.com/ (Postponed from 2020)

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (Major 1/2) | April 20th - 28th

The first major event of the Champions Chess Tour.

World Youth Rapid and Blitz Championship | April 30th - May 4th

The World Youth Rapid and Blitz Championship 2022, will be held in Greece.

The players will be divided into six age categories, U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18.

Superbet Chess Classic | GCT (1/5) | May 3rd - 15th

First event of the Grand Chess Tour 2022, the Superbet Chess Classic held in Bucharest, Romania. 10 players will compete in a round-robin format for a prize fund of $325,000.

Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland | May 17th - 24th

Paris Rapid & Blitz is the second of the five events in the Grand Chess Tour 2022. It will feature 10 players in fast paced rapid and blitz chess for a total prize fund of $175,000.

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (3/6) | May 18th - 26th

The third minor leg of the Champions Chess Tour will be held in May.

Norway Chess 2022 | May 30th - June 11th

Norway Chess has seen the top players from the world compete. The event will be held in Stavanger, Norway. The Norway Chess Open will be held alongside the main event.

Prague International Chess Festival | June 7th - 17th

The 4th Prague International Chess Festival, will have three sections, the masters, challengers and futures. The tournament will be held in Prague, Czech Republic in the month of June.

Official Website

World School Individual Championships 2022 | June 10th - 17th

The World School Individual Championships 2022 will be held in Panama.

https://www.fide.com/calendar/18815

Candidates Tournament | June 16th - July 7th

The candidates tournament will be a 8-player tournament and the winner will qualify for the 2023 World Chess Championship.

World Senior Team Championship 2022 | June 19th - 30th

The World Senior Team Championship will be held in Acqui Terme, Italy.

https://www.fide.com/calendar/51212

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (4/6) | June 28th - July 7th

The fourth minor leg of the Champions Chess Tour will be held in June.

Biel International Chess Festival | July 9th - 23rd

The 55th Biel International Chess Festival will be held in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Top grandmasters will compete in a set of three tournaments of classical, rapid and blitz chess. The overall winner is decided by combining points for all three events.

Super United Croatia Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz | July 19th - 26th

The third leg of the Grand Chess Tour, the Super United Croatia Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz will be held in Zagreb, Croatia. It again features fast paced chess in a 10-player round robin. Players will compete for a total prize fund of $150,000.

World Chess Olympiad | July 28th - August 10th

Teams representing their countries take part in the Chess Olympiad and is held biannually.

This year the tournament will be held in Chennai, India.

August 2022

Meltwater champions chess tour (major 2/2) | august 2022.

The second major of the Champions Chess Tour will be held in August.

European Women's Chess Championship | August 20th - 31st

The European Women's Chess Championship will be held in Prague, Czech Republic.

Superbet Warsaw Rapid & Blitz | August 24th - 30th

The 2022 Superbet Warsaw Rapid & Blitz, is the 4th leg of the Grand Chess Tour in 2022, it will be held in Warsaw, Poland. 10 players will compete in a round-robin format for a total prize fund of $150,000.

September 2022

Sinquefield cup | september 1st - 15th.

Overall champion of the Grand Chess Tour will be determined in the final stage, the Sinquefield Cup, held in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.

10-players will compete in classical chess for a total prize fund of $325,000.

World Youth Championships 2022 | September 8th - 18th

The World Youth Championships will be held in Mamaia, Romania. The players will be divided in three age categories, U14, U16 and U18.

Asian Games | September 10th - 25th

Chess is back in the Asian Games! The event will be held in Hangzhou, China.

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (5/6) | September 17th - 25th

Fifth minor event of the Champions Chess Tour will take place in September.

October 2022

European chess club cup | october 2nd - 10th.

The European Chess Club Cup is a team event for European countries, it will be held in Mayrhofen, Austria. Open and women's section will be there.

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (6/6) | October 14th - 22nd

The sixth and final minor event of the champions chess tour will be held in October.

World Amateur Championship 2022 | October 20th - 30th

The World Amateur Chess Championship will be held in Malta.

European Women's Rapid & Blitz Championship | October 23rd - 26th

Top women players from Europe will compete in rapid and blitz chess. The event will be held in Kyiv, Ukraine.

https://www.europechess.org/

November 2022

Meltwater champions chess tour (final) | november 11th - 20th.

The final stage of the Champions Chess Tour will take place in November.

World Senior Championship 2022 | November 15th - 28th

The World Senior Championship will be held in Assisi, Italy.

FIDE World Team Championship 2022 | November 19th - 26th

The FIDE World Team Championship will be held in Jerusalem, Israel

Tata Steel 2022 | November 29th - December 1st

Tata Steel 2022 will take place November 29th - December 1st, featuring a Women's edition for the first time.

December 2022

European blitz & rapid chess championship | 16th - 18th december.

The European Blitz & Rapid Chess Championship will be held in Katowice, Poland

The Superbet Chess Classic starts: A Chess History of Bucharest

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

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The Sharp Arkhangelsk Variation in the Ruy Lopez

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Firouzja Wins Sinquefield Cup, Grand Chess Tour

Alireza Firouzja won the 2022 Sinquefield Cup in a two-game Rapids tiebreak playoff with Ian Nepomniachtchi. There were no decisive games in the final round, so Firouzja and Nepomniachtchi tied with five points, a half point ahead of Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana.  

Leinier Dominguez Perez took clear fifth place with four points, a half point ahead of Hans Niemann and Levon Aronian, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished a disappointing last with three points. Recall that Nepomniachtchi had the good fortune that Carlsen’s withdrawal negated his loss to Magnus, while Niemann was unlucky that his win over Carlsen didn’t count.

The playoff win meant that Firouzja won both the Sinquefield Cup and the 2022 Grand Chess Tour, having won the St Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament just the week before the Sinquefield started! Wesley So took second place in the Grand Chess Tour.  

Starting at the end, the tiebreak match was a two-game playoff with a time control of G/15;d10. The first game featured a rather quiet opening which devolved into a roughly even ending and was drawn without great drama. The second game was a bit of a slaughter, with Firouzja as White getting a quite significant opening advantage and then Nepomniachtchi horribly blundering an entire piece early on.  

Here are some games from the second half of the tournament. I didn’t find any games worth showing from the seventh round, so it isn’t part of this recap.

The most significant game of the round was Firouzja – Mamedyarov, because it made it possible for Firouzja to get back into contention for a top prize. The opening featured a double-edged English Opening variation which has been contested fairly often recently. White made the first serious mistake and Mamedyarov pounced with a mini-combination that netted a pawn and stranded White’s king in the center. But he followed that up with very passive move (perhaps based upon a miscalculation) and then instead of developing his pieces tried to hold on to his extra pawn at the cost of disastrously exposing his king. A dramatic turnaround ensued.  

Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave saw a new move by Aronian in an extremely well-known position of the Najdorf Sicilian. MVL responded well but then missed an equalizing opportunity and fell into a slightly inferior ending. Just when Black had equalized, he missed the best defense and fell into a lost position. This game, and the fact that Vachier-Lagrave missed a very promising continuation versus Niemann in the next round, turned out to be the main reason that Firouzja was ultimately able to overcome MVL in the Grand Chess Tour standings.  

This round turned out to be the decisive one for the tournament. It featured ambitious play leading to tremendous excitement and tragic turnarounds. Caruana defeated Niemann in a very tough battle, which left the latter out of the first-place picture. Firouzja – So changed the fate of both players.

The opening looked innocent enough, but So found a way to create suddenly unstoppable threats on the kingside. Firouzja played a tough defense, but at the critical moment Black missed a crushing solution and opted for the mere win of a pawn. Apparently disoriented, So continued to make mistakes and Firouzja suddenly launched his own ingenious counterattack, which turned the game around in short order and brought Firouzja into the tournament lead.  

Aronian – Nepomniachtchi was an exciting back-and-forth game that was also vital for the final result of the tournament. After a passive opening Aronian fell into a lost position, but miraculously recovered when Nepomniachtchi misplaced his pieces and underestimated White’s kingside play. Just when White seemed fine, he allowed Black to consolidate and gain a kingside attack at the same time. After that Nepo made no more mistakes and joined Firouzja at the top of the crosstable.  

In round nine, most players were content to draw, and in, fact three of the games had well-known openings which offer minimal prospects. In Nepomniachtchi – Niemann, White didn’t get much from the opening, but it was unbalanced enough to present opportunities, and Nepo managed to gain a solid advantage that eventually turned into a winning one. Probably due to time pressure, however, he drifted and did nothing for a few moves, allowing Niemann back into the game:  

This failure to convert left Firouzja and Nepomniachtchi tied for first place, with Firouzja winning the Grand Chess Tour in the two-game playoff.

Up next in Saint Louis is the traditional Ultimate Moves competition, where teams made up of leading stars and Saint Louis favorites (including Rex Sinquefield!) do battle in friendly blitz. This takes place Tuesday at 1 p.m. Central.

Beginning Wednesday it’s Chess 9LX (or 960 for those of you who have forgotten your Roman numerals!) with many of the Sinquefield Cup participants along with Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler, and former world champion Garry Kasparov. Competition begins at 2 p.m. Central Wednesday through Friday.

You can watch both the Ultimate Moves competition and Chess 9LX at the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube and Twitch channels.

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US CHESS PRESS

The FIDE Council has approved a cooperation agreement with the Grand Chess Tour . By virtue of this agreement, the two top finishers of the 2023 and 2025 Series will qualify for the Candidates 2024 and 2026 respectively. 

More details on the agreement and the format will follow in due time.

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2022 grand chess tour, 19 year old alireza firouzja sweeps the last two legs and the 2022 grand chess tour.

SAINT LOUIS, Wednesday, September 14 - This month, 13 of the world’s best chess grandmasters part

2022 SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia

Purchase event tickets here.

A staple since 2019, the SuperUnited Croatia Grand Chess Tour signals the third tournament and midway point of the Grand Chess Tour. Continuing in the thrilling fashion of rapid and blitz format, exciting displays of chess play and blunders under time pressure will certainly keep fans entertained.