Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Gukesh among participants in Bucharest leg of Grand Chess Tour
Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana (USA/World No. 2), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia/World No. 4) and India’s Dommaraju Gukesh (India/Nr. 6), the recent winner of the Toronto Candidates Tournament, are on the list of participants of the Bucharest leg (Chess Classic Romania 2024) of the Grand Chess Tour, scheduled from June 24 to July 6, according to a press release from the organisers.
Among those invited, with a wild card, is the young Romanian grandmaster Bogdan Daniel Deac, 22 years old, 42nd in the world and No. 2 in Romania. At 12 years and seven months, he became the youngest international grandmaster in the world, and at 14 he became a grandmaster, one of the youngest players in history to do so. His presence is becoming a tradition in the chess tournament, this being his fourth participation in the Bucharest leg.
The list of other participants includes American Fabiano Caruana, 31 years old, World No. 2, winner of the Grand Chess Tour 2023 in Bucharest, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, 33 years old, World No. 4, double winner of the Candidates Tournament, Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov, 19 years old, World No. 5, Indian Gukesh Dommaraju, 17 years old, World No. 6, who recently won the Candidates Tour and became the youngest player in history to challenge for the world title, American Wesley So, 30, World No. 9, Indian Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, 18, World No. 14, Dutchman Anish Giri, 29, World No. 15, French Alireza Firouzja, 20, World No. 16, winner of the Grand Chess Tour 2022 and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 33, World No. 20.
The tournament in Bucharest will be a classic chess tournament, in which the players will play in a closed tournament system, each against each other, and the winner will be decided by the accumulated score.
The prize money for the Romanian stage is USD 350,000. The prize money for the entire circuit is USD 1.5 million, including USD 350,000 for the classic chess stage and USD 175,000 for each stage of rapid and blitz chess. This year’s tournament will also have a bonus prize pool of USD 275,000, which will be awarded to the top finishers at the end of the tournament.
The Grand Chess Tour is an international chess circuit that brings together the world’s best players. The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the world’s greatest chess ‘ambassadors’, inspired the creation of the Grand Chess Tour and also helped to strengthen the partnership between the organisers, the press release added.
For more details and the latest news about the tour, you can visit www.fundatiasuperbet.ro, www.superchess.ro, www.grandchesstour.org and follow the social networks of the Superbet Foundation and the GCT.