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Press release by the Play Magnus Group
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen tops the field for the Charity Cup, the second event on the 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The online chess tournament, starting Saturday March 19th, is taking place under the shadow of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and will focus on raising funds for UNICEF to support children and their families within or fleeing Ukraine. Ding Liren, Richard Rapport and Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun are among participants from 12 countries, with no Russian players involved.
The first event on the $1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, the Airthings Masters, was in full flow when Russia began a new invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, throwing the world into turmoil. Four Russian players were playing and were able to complete the event, with Ian Nepomniachtchi, who immediately expressed his dismay at the outbreak of war, reaching the final.
For the second event on the tour the decision was taken to focus on the humanitarian situation, by renaming the event and organising it as a fundraiser for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, that is providing life-saving support for children and their families in and around Ukraine.
Andreas Thome, CEO of Play Magnus Group, said:
As a global organisation serving millions of chess fans around the world, we are humbled to be in a position to organise our upcoming tournament, the Charity Cup, as a fundraiser for UNICEF to support their vital humanitarian activities in and around Ukraine.
You can already donate to UNICEF using the following link:
https://www.unicef.no/stott/privat/donasjon/chess-tournament
The decision not to include Russian players, and an overlap with the final FIDE Grand Prix, has enabled new players to be invited to the Charity Cup. Just seven players who played in the Airthings Masters, including Magnus Carlsen, world no. 3 Ding Liren and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (a late replacement for Radek Wojtaszek) also play in the Charity Cup, with Belgrade FIDE Grand Prix winner Richard Rapport making his Tour debut.
The Semi-Slav: A GM guide for the tournament player
The Semi-Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6) can arise via various move orders, has decided World Championships, and is one of Black's most fascinating replies to 1 d4. Magnus Carlsen's second, Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen explains in detail what this opening is all about.
There are also Meltwater Champions Chess Tour debuts for Czech no. 1 David Navara and China’s Lei Tingjie, who is joined by Ju Wenjun.
16-year-old Praggnanandhaa will again be the youngest player, after famously defeating Magnus Carlsen in the Airthings Masters. He’ll be joined by his Indian compatriots Vidit and Harikrishna.
Canadian streamer Eric Hansen, who surprised most observers by reaching the knockout stages in the Airthings Masters, gets another chance to show he can compete with the best.
The Charity Cup starts at 18:00 CET (13:00 ET, 17:00 UTC, 22:30 IST) on Saturday, March 19th and once again features four days of Preliminaries, where the 16 players will play each other once on chess24 at 15+10 rapid chess before the Top 8 go forward to the Knockout stages.
The Knockout feature 4-game matches, one each for the quarterfinals and semi-finals, and two such matches for the final. If still tied, there are two 5+3 blitz games followed, if needed, by an Armageddon game, where White has 5 minutes to Black’s 4, but Black only needs a draw.
Master Class Vol.8 - Magnus Carlsen 2nd Edition
Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.
