GRENKE Chess Classic & Open - March 26 to April 1, 2024
For many chess fans in Germany, it’s the news of the year: the GRENKE Chess Festival is back. In 2020, the event had to be cancelled at short notice just a few days before the Easter weekend due to the pandemic. Now we announce the long-awaited comeback.
The GRENKE Chess Open will continue where it left off. The tournament format and the schedule (28 March to 1 April) are almost unchanged. A prize fund of 70,000 euros and the opportunity to play in the same tournament hall as the chess superstars will once again make the tournament the biggest open tournament in Europe from Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday.
Registrations are now open at the tournament website: www.grenkechessopen.de. The full tournament programme has also been published. In addition, the list of participants will be updated regularly, and further information will be published regularly.
The GRENKE Chess Classic will also see a much-anticipated new edition. By holding the Open and the Classic at the same time, the Baden-Baden Chess Centre presents chess in a more spectacular way than on any other chess stage in the world. Dr Sebastian Hirsch, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GRENKE AG said:
GRENKE has been committed to promoting the sport of chess for more than 20 years. At the GRENKE Chess Open, we enable thousands of chess fans and interested amateurs to enjoy a unique event in Karlsruhe.
At the same time, they can experience the exciting games of the grandmasters up close as part of the GRENKE Chess Classic. We are delighted about the high-calibre, international field of participants in the Classic, and I will be keeping my fingers crossed for Vincent Keymer.
As the Candidates Tournament to determine the challenger for the next World Championship match will begin shortly after Easter in Toronto this year, the tournament mode and schedule have been adjusted.
This year, the GRENKE Chess Classic will start two days before the GRENKE Chess Open. With the exception of the rest day on 29 March 2024, two rounds will be played every day. The rapid chess time limit of 45 minutes plus 10 seconds per move will be in place — we expect it to be very attractive for spectators.
Tournament Director Sven Noppes is particularly proud of the line-up for the top tournament. He noted, “We have been able to realise our desired line-up”:
From Thursday, the super grandmasters of the GRENKE Chess Classic will once again share the hall of the Schwarzwaldhalle with the participants of the open and the spectators.
“There will be images and an atmosphere that you can only experience in Karlsruhe”, noted a delighted Sven Noppes. “A massive event and a high-quality event in one place like nowhere else”, says the Chairman of the Chess Centre, FIDE Master Christian Bossert, explaining the basic idea behind the chess festival since its first edition in 2016.
He adds: “Be part of it — register or join us in Karlsruhe as a spectator!”
Contact details
Schachzentrum Baden-Baden e.V.
Tournament director: Sven Noppes
td@schachzentrum-baden-baden.de
