Information provided by chess.com
Running from July 17 to July 24, the highly anticipated third event of the 2024 Champions Chess Tour, in partnership with CrunchLabs, will feature the world's top chess players competing for a $300,000 prize pool and a coveted spot in the CCT Finals.
CrunchLabs is an educational STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) subscription box company founded by former NASA engineer and YouTube sensation Mark Rober. CrunchLabs teaches you how to think, build, and play like an engineer through two different subscription boxes: Build Box, which packs DIY toys for kids aged 8-12, and Hack Pack, a robot-in-a-box kit designed for teens and adults.
Fans can count on the presence of last year's Tour champion GM Magnus Carlsen, who finished second in the previous CCT event. GM Alireza Firouzja, who made history by defeating Carlsen twice to win the Chess.com Classic, is also participating. Can Firouzja repeat his prowess against the world number one, or will Carlsen exact revenge on his unshakeable opponent?
The final player with a guaranteed spot in Division I is GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who defeated world number nine GM Wesley So to win Division II of the 2024 Chess.com Classic. Other confirmed players include Polish number one GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, So, super-GM Dmitry Andreikin, and GM Grigoriy Oparin, who will all start at a favorable spot to fight for a place in Division I.
The CrunchLabs Masters is a highlight of the chess calendar. With a substantial prize pool and critical CCT points on the line, fans can expect high-stakes games and strategic brilliance from the world's best players.
The CCT features four online events and live, in-person Finals. The winner of the CCT Finals becomes the Champions Chess Tour champion. Players can qualify for the CCT Finals by winning the online events or through the CCT Leaderboard, described later.
The 2024 Chessable Masters consists of three phases: Play-in, Division Placement, and Division Play. The event is open to all grandmasters, with non-grandmaster titled players also being able to qualify through the January 26 qualifier.
Play-In Format (Day 1)
Grandmasters and qualified players compete to get a favorable placement in the Division Placement phase. Players’ results in the Play-in determine how high they can go and how easy it is for them to make it to a better division.
Division Placement Format (Day 2)
In the Division Placement phase, the 69 players who made it from the Play-in join the four pre-seated players. The pre-seated players are determined based on the results of the last CCT event (AI Cup). Players compete to get to the highest division possible.
Division Play Format (Days 3-8)
Players compete for prize money, promotion to a higher division in the next CCT event, and a spot at the CCT Finals.
