Grand Chess Tour Rapid and Blitz in Paris

by ChessBase
5/21/2016 – In just over two weeks the first event of the 2016 Grand Chess Tour will be inaugurated in Paris, France. The best players in the world will duke it out over four days in rapid and blitz chess, including Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Kramnik and more. The games will be broadcast via Dailymotion Games, a company specializing in broadcasting video games live. Press Release.

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Press release

Paris Grand Chess Tour 2016
A powerful Dailymotion Games event

A world class tournament

The Paris Grand Chess Tour is the new French leg of the prestigious 2016 Grand Chess Tour circuit. Ten of the world’s very best chess players will be competing over four days for a total prize pool of $150,000. The tournament will run from the 9th until the 12th June 2016 at La Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France.

All games from the Paris Grand Chess Tour will be broadcast live on Dailymotion Games which will enable everyone to experience the competition through an unprecedented content offering.

A 100% live and connected tournament

Enabled via live-streaming and using multi-camera presentation, viewers will be able to choose how they want to experience and interact with the event. There will be a choice between live games, live chats, replays of key points on twitter and instructional videos that unlock the mysteries of the game.

Dailymotion Games is striving to reach a new connected generation that is looking for content delivered through innovative entertainment. They are hence offering an original approach that brings a new public dimension to chess competition. The daily live broadcasts will be delivered via Dailymotion on smartphone, tablet and Playstation 4.

A prestigious line-up

Now in its second year, the Grand Chess Tour has chosen Paris to launch its international circuit of events which collectively boast a prize fund in excess of one million dollars. The tour venues are spread over four cities as follows: Paris (9th – 12th June) / Brussels (17th – 20th June) / St Louis, USA (4th – 16th August) / London (8th – 19th December).

Garry Kasparov, a living chess legend and the inspiration behind this magnificent tour, will inaugurate the tournament in the presence of the best chess players in the world. This will include the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen.

The full field for the tournament consists of the following 10 players:

(The ratings and world rankings are taken from the May 2016 FIDE rating list)

Magnus Carlsen (30/11/1990)

Rating: 2851 – World rank: 1

He is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, No. 1 ranked player in the world and reigning World Chess Champion in classical and rapid. His peak rating is 2882, the highest in history. Carlsen was regarded as a chess prodigy as a youngster, and became a Grandmaster in 2004, at the age of 13 years. In 2010, at the age of 19 years, he became the youngest chess player to be ranked FIDE world No. 1. In 2013, Carlsen won the title world chess champion, by defeating Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2013.

Fabiano Caruana (30/7/1992)

Rating: 2804 – World rank: 2

He is an Italian-American chess grandmaster, former chess prodigy, and at various times the No. 2 ranked player in the world. On 15 July 2007 Caruana became a grandmaster (GM) at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States (his US record was beaten in October 2009 by Ray Robson). In October 2014, he achieved an Elo rating of 2844, becoming the third highest rated player in history.

Vladimir Kramnik (25/6/1975)

Rating: 2801– World rank: 3

He is a Russian chess Grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007. He has won three team gold medals at Chess Olympiads. In October 2000, he defeated Garry Kasparov and became the Classical World Chess Champion. Kramnik defeated reigning FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in the World Chess Championship 2006. In 2007, Kramnik lost the title to Viswanathan Anand.

Anish Giri (28/6/1994)

Rating: 2790 – World rank: 4

He is a Russian-born Dutch Grandmaster and former chess prodigy. He achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 14 years and 7 months. Giri is a four-time Dutch Chess Champion (2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015) and won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has represented the Netherlands at three Chess Olympiads (Russia, Turkey, Norway).

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (21/10/1990)

Rating: 2788– World rank: 5

Sometimes referred to as MVL, he is a French chess Grandmaster and the 2009 World Junior Chess Champion. He is the No. 1 ranked player in France. Vachier-Lagrave is a three-time French champion (2007, 2011, shared 2012) and four-time winner of the Biel Grandmaster Tournament (2009, 2013, 2014, 2015).


Hikaru Nakamura (9/12/1987)

Rating: 2787 – World rank: 6

He is an American chessgrandmaster. He is a four-time United States Chess Champion, who won the 2011 edition of Tata Steel Group A and represented the United States at five Chess Olympiads, winning two team bronze medals. He has also written a book about bullet chess called Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate. In October 2015, he reached his peak FIDE rating of 2816, which ranked him second in the world. In May 2014, when FIDE began publishing official rapid and blitz chess ratings, Nakamura ranked number one in the world on both lists.


Levon Aronian (6/10/1982)

Rating: 2784 – World rank: 7

He is an Armenianchess Grandmaster. Aronian won the Chess World Cup 2005. He led the Armenian national team to the Gold medals in three Chess Olympics (Turin, Dresden, Istanbul) and at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011. He won the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010. He was also World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009, and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010. Aronian has been the leading Armenian chess player since the early 2000’s.


Wesley So (9/10/1993)

Rating: 2775 – World rank: 10

He is a Filipino chess grandmaster representing the United States. A former chess prodigy, So became the youngest player to pass 2600 Elo rating in October 2008, breaking the record previously held by Magnus Carlsen. In February 2015 he entered the World top 10 after tying for second place at the 2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He is a three-time Philippines Chess Champion. In 2015, he won the Bilbao Chess Masters Final.


Veselin Topalov (15/3/1975)

Rating: 2754 – World rank: 16

He is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 match against Kramnik. He was ranked number one in the world from April 2006 to January 2007. In the World Chess Championship 2010, he was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand.


Laurent Fressinet (30/11/1981)

Rating: 2692 – World rank: 46

He is a French chess grandmaster. Fressinet is part of the new generation of grandmasters in France who have helped it become 6th in the world by average rating. He was French Champion in 2010 and 2012 and came second in the European Championship in 2012. In 2014 he was one of Magnus Carlsen's seconds for the world title bout against Anand.

"I am delighted that top class chess competition has returned to one of the world’s foremost cities, one with a centuries old tradition of staging the finest chess tournaments. The arrival of the Grand Chess Tour in Paris confirms France’s growing stature as a chess super-power and I'm looking forward to seeing both Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Laurent Fressinet face off with the world champion Magnus Carlsen and the other players in the world’s top 10." - Garry Kasparov

Supported with passion by our sponsors

This event could not have had taken place without the involvement of Vivendi and Colliers International.

Vivendi, which combines several leading companies in the fields of content provision and media, seeks to modernise this ancient game in the firm belief that the time is right for it to reach a wider audience.

"Content is king... What more is there for Vivendi than to invest in chess, the king of games?" - Stéphane Roussel, Operations Director.

Colliers International, a real-estate enterprise. Their involvement was initiated by their company president Gilles Betthaeuser, who is a strong player and chess enthusiast himself. He commented:

"Colliers is happy to be associated with this world class tournament. The real-estate business and chess demand the same qualities from practitioners, not only the capacity to take risks, appreciate a project’s hidden dimensions or an opponent’s manoeuvres, but also the ability to take good decisions in a complex environment. Having our name associated with this event was an obvious call for us to make."

For more information

Twitter: https://twitter.com/parisgrandchesstour
Venue: Maison de la Chimie, 28 bis Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris
Dates: 9 - 12 June 2016
Tickets: http://www.digitick.com/paris-grand-chess-tour-2016-sport-ile-de-france-css4-digitick-pg5-rg11967.html
Costs: 21,80€ /day, 31,80€ /week-end and 61,80€ /all 4 days
Press contact: Havas Worldwide Paris - Alexandra Wagner
Email: alexandra.wagner@havasww.com - Tel +33 1 58 47 93 68


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