
Yesterday, Friday, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
hosted a news press conference to announce the establishment of a new international
chess circuit that will involve the world's leading professional chess players.
You can watch a 25-minute video stream of the entire conference here:
In the press conference you see at the table Tony Rich, the Executive Director
of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis; Rex Sinquefield,
retired American financial executive, who is active in Missouri politics
and philanthropic causes and is the main sponsor behind the CCSCSL (and
numerous chess events); Garry Kasparov; Nigel Short; Jøran Aulin-Jansson,
President of the Norwegian Chess Federation and organizer of the super-strong
Norway Chess 2015 event; and Malcolm Pein, organizer of the London Chess
Classic. The conference is moderated by Michael Khodarkovsky, President
of the Kasparov Chess Foundation.
The concerence starts with the drawing of colours for the Battle of the
Legends which starts on Saturday. Garry Kasparov, the 13th World Champion,
got the golden pieces in game one (sorry, the white pieces –
watch the video to understand), Nigel Short, his 1993 challenger, plays
black). It goes on to present the big announcement. You can watch the sometimes
quite entertaining video above, but here in a nutshell is what it is all
about (press release of the CCSCSL):
Inaugural Grand Chess Tour Unveiled in Saint Louis
SAINT LOUIS (April 24, 2015) – There is a new, gold standard for
international chess competition, providing more opportunities for the world’s
best chess players to compete on a grand stage. The world’s most prestigious,
international chess events are combining efforts to establish a gold standard
for the inaugural Grand Chess Tour, an annual competitive circuit for ten
of the world’s top grandmasters. The announcement was made today at
a press conference held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint
Louis.
The Grand Chess Tour is an affiliation between the Chess Club and Scholastic
Center of Saint Louis (Sinquefield Cup), Tower AS (Norway Chess) and Chess
Promotions Ltd. (London Chess Classic), combining the organizational efforts
of three elite events into one unified competitive structure. The partnership
aims to raise worldwide awareness for each prestigious tournament, as well
as for the tour.
The inaugural 2015 Tour will kick off in June as a three-event cycle, beginning
with Norway Chess 2015, followed by the Sinquefield Cup in August/September,
and finishing with the London Chess Classic in 2015.
Norway Chess 2015 |
Stavanger, Norway |
June 15 – June 26, 2015 |
Sinquefield Cup |
Saint Louis, USA, August 21 |
September 3, 2015 |
London Chess Classic |
London, England, December 3 |
December 14, 2015 |
Based on FIDE's January 2015 rating list, the Grand Chess Tour invited
the world’s top-ten international grandmasters, eight of whom agreed
to appear in all three international events. A ninth grandmaster, who will
also play the entire tour, will be added at a later date. The tenth and
final grandmaster will be selected as a wildcard by each organizing host.
Each of the three 2015 Grand Chess Tour events will award individual prize
funds of $300,000, with competitors also tallying points toward a tour prize
fund of $150,000; the overall tour champion will receive an additional $75,000.
The total prize fund for the circuit is $1,050,000.
The participating players are:
Magnus Carlsen |
Norway |
Fabiano Caruana |
Italy |
Alexander Grischuk |
Russia |
Veselin Topalov |
Bulgaria |
Viswanathan Anand |
India |
Levon Aronian |
Armenia |
Anish Giri |
Netherlands |
Hikaru Nakamura |
USA |
“The Grand Chess Tour was created with just one goal in mind: Demonstrating
the highest level of organization for the world’s best players,”
said Tony Rich. “Featuring the world’s strongest chess professionals
fighting for massive prize funds, along with a full spectator experience
led by world-class commentary, this circuit sets forth an internationally
coordinated effort that casts a shining spotlight on global chess competition.”
“It’s an honor to be among the giants of chess organizers,”
said Joran Aulin-Jansson with Tower AS (Norway Chess). “Having the
world’s best chess players in one circuit is a great way to fuel excitement
for the future of chess.”
“The London Chess Classic is delighted to be part of this new venture
which we feel sure will greatly add to the public interest in top flight
chess,” said Malcom Pein, Director London Chess Classic. “We
look forward to the Grand Chess Tour climaxing in London and to further
tournaments joining the GCT in coming years."
Participating tournaments are identified as the gold standard for international
event organization, setting the model for player conditions, prize funds
and spectator experience. Each of the events will cater to live audiences,
as well as offer streaming broadcasts complete with grandmaster commentary.
Reminder: Garry Kasparov vs. Nigel Short match begins today

World chess legends Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short will meet later this
month for the first Battle of the Legends exhibition match, to be held in
Saint Louis, the Chess Capital of the United States.

In only his fourth command of the pieces since retiring in 2005, Kasparov
will once again duel famed English GM Nigel Short in the Battle of the
Legends match, held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint
Louis this weekend, April 25-26, 2015.
Both legends will warm up against 20 players in a simultaneous exhibition
today at 4:00 p.m. CDT, where spectators are invited to the CCSCSL to mingle
with the live event. Then on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CDT, chess
fans from around the world are invited to watch Kasparov’s return to action,
live on www.uschesschamps.com,
where he’ll duke out ten Rapid and Blitz games with Short in an epic rematch
of their meeting at the 1993 World Chess Championship.
Format: two rapid and eight blitz games. Time
Control: Rapid - 25 minutes, plus a 10-second delay per move;
Blitz - 5 minutes, with a 3-second delay. For example, if the delay is five
seconds, the clock waits for five seconds before counting down. Schedule:
Date |
Time |
Event |
April 24 |
2:45 PM |
Opening Ceremony & Chess Tour 2015 Press Conference |
|
4:00 PM |
Simultaneous Exhibition by Garry & Nigel |
April 25 |
2:00 PM |
Rapid Round 1, Blitz Rounds 1-4 |
April 26 |
2:00 PM |
Rapid Round 2, Blitz Rounds 5-8 |
|
5:00 PM |
Autograph Session with Garry & Nigel |
All times are local to Saint Louis, MO, USA (CDT). The rapid games start
at 2:00 p.m. = 21:00h CEST – here
is the time in your location. Both match days for Battle of the Legends
will be streamed live on U.S. Chess
Champs, featuring world-class commentary from International Grandmasters
Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramirez, as well as post-game interviews and
analysis with Kasparov and Short.
Your predictions: tell us what you think:
Will Kasparov whop Short, will the active grandmaster punish the retiree
who has been inactive for ten years now, or is it too close to call? Predict
a final score for the two rapid and eight blitz games and win a copy of
Nigel or
Garry's
ChessBase DVDs.