2023 Grand Chess Tour: St. Louis Events Moved To November-December
The 2023 Grand Chess Tour's format is identical to last year's, with two classical events and three rapid and blitz events. The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and the Sinquefield Cup will take place in November-December, likely due to the scheduling of the FIDE World Cup.
The five events of the new Grand Chess Tour were announced on Monday via a press release:
- Superbet Chess Classic Romania: May 4-16, Bucharest, Romania
- Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland: May 19-26, Warsaw, Poland
- SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia: July 3-10, Zagreb, Croatia
- Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: November 12-19, St. Louis, U.S.
- Sinquefield Cup: November 19-December 3, St. Louis, U.S.
The 2023 season, the ninth edition of the Grand Chess Tour, will have a total prize fund of $1.4 million. The prize money for each of the two classical tournaments will be $350,000 and $175,000 per event for rapid and blitz. In addition, a bonus prize fund totaling $175,000 will be awarded to the top three overall tour finishers.
Participants in the tour haven't been announced yet. There will be eight full-tour players and additional wildcards will be selected for each tournament. The major sponsors are once again the Superbet Foundation, SuperUnited, and the Saint Louis Chess Club.
The press release does not say a word about the surprising dates for the two events in St. Louis this year: November 12-December 3, instead of the usual August and September. The reason must be the dates for this year's FIDE World Cup, which takes place July 29-August 26 and will have most of the world's top players. The Grand Swiss will be held October 23-November 5.
The five Grand Chess Tour events are likely going to be part of FIDE's new qualification path for their Candidates Tournament. One spot goes to the player with the best results in 2023 in FIDE-rated tournaments that have at least eight players with an average rating of 2550 or higher and a minimum of seven rounds, alongside other criteria. Even the rapid and blitz events can count, as long as the players have an average standard rating of at least 2700.
Update: Perhaps a more compelling reason to postpone the two tournaments in Saint Louis is the reconstruction of the chess club, as arbiter Chris Bird mentioned on Twitter.
Dates include arrival/departure dates, so not necessarily dates of the actual playing days. (I've never liked the way they do that but oh well.) The STL Rapid & Blitz and Sinquefield Cup are later in the year in the hope the renovations at @STLChessClub will be completed by then.
— Chris Bird (@ChrisBirdIA) January 9, 2023
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