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SAINT LOUIS (February 10, 2016) – The Grand Chess Tour announces two new tournaments for its second season in 2016 with the world’s top players competing for one million dollars in a mixture of traditional, rapid and blitz events in four countries.
The 2016 Grand Chess Tour season will include rapid and blitz tournaments in Paris and Brussels-Leuven in addition to the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic. The Grand Chess Tour is further establishing itself as the premier chess circuit in the world.
The field for 2016 will be announced in the near future. The three top finishers in the 2015 Grand Chess Tour will be invited as well as the five highest average rated players in 2015. Each tournament will award one wild card invite and the Grand Chess Tour will add another wild card invite rounding out the field to ten.
The Grand Chess Tour welcomes new sponsors Colliers International France, a commercial real estate services organization, and Your Next Move, a Belgian non-profit, will sponsor the Paris tournamentand the Brussels-Leuven tournaments.
| 2016 Grand Chess Tour | Location | Date | Prize Fund |
| GCT Rapid and Blitz | Paris, France | June 8th - 14th | $150,000 |
| GCT Rapid and Blitz | Brussels-Leuven | June 15th – 21st | $150,000 |
| Sinquefield Cup | Saint Louis, USA | August 19th – Sept. 2nd | $300,000 |
| London Chess Classic | London, England | December 7th – 19th | $300,000 |
| Grand Chess Tour | 2016 | $150,000 |
The overall 2016 GCT winner will receive a bonus prize of $100,000 and the second placed player $50,000 prize to make the prize fund $1,050,0000 across the four events.
The Grand Chess Tour combines the organizational efforts of the four elite events into a unified competitive structure. The partnership aims to raise worldwide awareness for each prestigious tournament, as well as for the tour.
Participating tournaments are identified as the gold standard for international event organization, setting the model for player conditions, prize funds and spectator experience. Each of the events will cater to live audiences, as well as offer streaming broadcasts complete with grandmaster commentary.
For more information, visit www.grandchesstour.com.
Watching professional international chess competitions is your hobby; creating these historic events is our passion. Sponsoring, organizing and executing events like the London Chess Classic and the Sinquefield Cup represents our commitment to bring you the very best that chess has to offer. Watch World Champions clash with other titans of chess over the board. But hosting international chess serves the chess community in other ways, too.
”To truly be successful you must have a clear vision of what success means to you and then share that knowledge with others to grow a team.” - Bluenscottish
The organizers in Saint Louis and London share the common goals of improving educational outcomes and social development in school-aged children. Hosting major chess events raises the profile of the game, increases awareness of its educational and social benefits and serves as a catalyst to make chess a part of mainstream culture across the globe. The game of chess is so much more than 32 pieces on 64 squares; it is an educational tool, improving spacial awareness, complex problem solving and analytical thinking. Chess is a metaphor for intellect, hard work and achievement.
The Grand Chess Tour was created with one goal in mind: a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world's best players. The 2016 Tour was created in partnership between the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (Sinquefield Cup) and Chess Promotions, Ltd. (London Chess Classic). 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. His tireless efforts to popularize the game around the world mirror the goals and ambitions of the Grand Chess Tour.
Spectators will be happy to know that the same great commentators you enjoy will be on the set at each event. What you may not know is that the Saint Louis team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade will join the mix, giving online spectators even more opportunity to experience the tournaments. Whether you enjoy in-person or virtually, we promise to deliver.
An example of what you can expect from our expert team of analysts and commentators
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