Grand Chess Tour Announces Wildcards for Superbet Chess Classic Romania, Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland and SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia

World Champion and No. 1 Ranked Player Magnus Carlsen to Headline Two Events

ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Grand Chess Tour, a leading global circuit of international chess tournaments featuring the world’s best players, announced the wildcard players for Superbet Chess Classic Romania, Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland and SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia.

The Superbet Chess Classic Romania, sponsored by the Superbet Foundation, will kick off the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour, with all nine full tour players and one wildcard player, Grandmaster Bogdan-Daniel Deac from Romania. This 10-player round-robin tournament will feature a total of $350,000 in prizes for the top performers.

Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland is the first rapid and blitz leg of the tour and will include a 10-player round-robin battle for a $175,000 prize fund. The event will feature six full-tour players and four wildcard players including:

• World Chess Champion Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen from Norway
• Grandmaster Radoslaw Wojtaszek from Poland
• Grandmaster Kirill Shevchenko from Romania
• Grandmaster Bogdan-Daniel Deac from Romania

SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia will include nine rounds of rapid and 18 rounds of blitz chess for a total prize fund of $175,000. This event will feature five full-tour players and five wildcard players including:

• World Champion Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen from Norway
• Former World Champion Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand from India
• Grandmaster Ivan Saric from Croatia
• Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh from India
• Grandmaster Constantin Lupulescu from Romania

“Romanian chess has a rich history of notable performances and talented players. One such example is Corina Peptan, who at just 10 years old, amazed the world of chess by becoming the world chess champion for Romania in her age category back in 1988. Today, we are confident that we can reach similar heights and even surpass them,” said Augusta Dragic, President of the Superbet Foundation.

Dragic continued: “We are fully committed to supporting the Romanian Chess Federation and bringing the world’s best chess players to Bucharest every year. This year’s Superbet Chess Classic promises to be spectacular, with two chess players battling it out in April for the world title. We look forward to welcoming the new world champion to Bucharest for the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour starting on May 5, alongside the world’s chess elite. Among them, our very own Bogdan Deac, who serves as an inspirational role model for young chess players who have the unique chance to see their idols every year.”

Superbet Chess Classic Romania and Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland are all sponsored by the Superbet Foundation.

The complete field for all three international events are 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

The confirmed fields for Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, and the Sinquefield Cup will be announced at a later date.

“We are happy to welcome back to the Grand Chess Tour World Champions Magnus Carlsen and Wiswanathan Anand,” said Michael Khodarkovsky, Executive Director of the Grand Chess Tour. “They will be challenged by young and rising stars like Gukesh and Shevchenko, which promises us thrilling and exciting competitions this year.”

Tour participants will compete for $1.4 million in cash over the course of the 2023 season, events include:

• 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

Chief Tour Arbiter IA Chris Bird (USA) and Deputy Chief Tour Arbiter IA Ignatius Leong (Singapore) have also been appointed arbiters for the Grand Chess Tour. The Grand Chess Tour expresses our warmest gratitude to IA David Sedgwick (England) for his talent and efforts as Chief Tour Arbiter from 2015 to 2022. Arbiters for each event will be announced at a later date.

For more information, visit grandchesstour.org.

About the Grand Chess Tour

The Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world’s best players. The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the world’s greatest ambassadors for chess, inspired the Grand Chess Tour and helped solidify the partnership between the organizers. All Grand Chess Tour 2022 events will comply with local and regional COVID-19 restrictions. For more information about the tour, please visit grandchesstour.org.

About the Superbet Foundation

Since 2019, Superbet Foundation has made chess one of its core initiatives by organizing the first tournament of the Grand Chess Tour in Bucharest. The Foundation is committed to establishing a tradition of Grand Chess Tour tournaments within the Romanian and Polish chess communities. For more information, visit www.superbetfoundation.com.

About the Saint Louis Chess Club

The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org.

Contacts

Rebecca Buffington

Grand Chess Tour Public Relations

Email: press@grandchesstour.org