Press release by chess.com
We're excited to announce the first leg of the 2025 Champions Chess Tour, the Chessable Masters! Starting February 16, the event will be the first of two online events on the Tour and feature a $150,000 prize fund.
This year, there is more on the line than ever for the Champions Chess Tour online events. Players will only have two opportunities to accumulate points and make it to the top-12 of the CCT Leaderboard to earn a spot in yet another high-stakes challenge...
The 2025 Champions Chess Tour culminates with the Esports World Cup. With a whopping $1,500,000 prize fund, this is also the first time in history that chess makes it to the stage of this prestigious event.
Chess lovers can also look forward to a thrilling change in the format of the Champion Chess Tour's online events. Fans will be on the edge of their seats as games will now feature the faster 10+0 time control - setting the stage for more time-trouble drama and swindles.
The events are open to all titled players, who can participate in the qualifiers to earn a spot in the Play-Ins. The Play-Ins will be open to all qualified players and grandmasters and consist of Swiss and Match Play phases, with the top eight players moving on to the Playoffs. Eight invited players will then join the fray to compete for top prize money and CCT points.
Among the invited players to participate in this year's Chessable Masters is five-time Tour Champion Magnus Carlsen. The world number-one not only won the last edition of the Chessable Masters but has also dominated the Tour since its inception.
Carlsen is one of the confirmed players for the first leg of this year's Champions Chess Tour | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com
Another invited player is GM Hikaru Nakamura, a fan favourite and the current world number-three. A well-known blitz and bullet specialist, Nakamura might be one of the players favoured by the faster time control of this edition. Is this the year Nakamura dethrones Carlsen?
World number-three Nakamura is also playing in the 2025 Chessable Masters | Photo: Maria Emelianova / chess.com
Other confirmed players include the 2024 Champions Chess Tour runner-up and two-time world championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi and the three-time US Champion and 2024 Julius Baer Generation Cup Division II winner GM Wesley So.
You can keep up with all the action of this year's Chessable Masters on Chess.com's Twitch and YouTube channels. Tune in to enjoy every second of the first event of the Tour, with expert commentary by GMs Daniel Naroditsky, David Howell, IM Tania Sachdev and more.
