Nakamura and Firouzja complete the lineup of the Skilling Open

The action begins on Sunday

The Champions Chess Tour is the successor to the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. It consists of 10 events taking place over 10 months, with the prize fund rising from $1 million to $1.5 million. Six Regular tournaments, three Majors and the Finals will be played from November 2020 until September 2021.

Prior to the start of the first event of the tour, the organizers disclosed the lineup slowly, presenting the names of the participants one by one. While the participation of Magnus Carlsen was announced a bit over a week ago, Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja were the last names to be disclosed.

According to their rating in rapid — the time control is 15 minutes for the game, with 10-second increments — Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ding Liren, Nakamura and Levon Aronian are the top seeds. 

Full lineup

Master Class Vol.8: Magnus Carlsen

Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.

First, the 16 players will face off in a single round robin, to be played between Sunday and Tuesday, with five rounds being played per day. The top eight will advance to a 6-day knockout, with two days each for the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. 

In the knockout stage, each encounter will be decided over two days. On day, 1 there will be four rapid games, and if the match ends 2:2 it will simply be a draw (there doesn’t have to be a winner). On day 2, another 4-game match will be held. If both matches are drawn, or the players have traded wins, then shortly after the second match there will be a playoff: two blitz games followed, if needed, by Armageddon.

At stake are both Tour points and a $100,000 prize fund, with $30,000 for first place.

• Winner: $30,000
• Runner-up: $15,000
• Semifinals: $7,500
• Quarterfinals: $5,000
• Preliminaries: $2,500

Tour points will take on much more importance than in the previous tour. The maximum available for a Regular event like the Skilling Open is 50 (10 for finishing 1st in the Prelims and 40 for winning the final).

Power Play 20: Test Your Attacking Chess

Grandmaster Daniel King presents ten exemplary attacking performances. At key moments he stops and asks you to play a move. King then gives feedback on the most plausible continuations. It’s the next best thing to having your own personal trainer!

The action each day begins at 17:00 GMT (18:00 CET, 12:00 ET).

Links

• Official website
• Champions Chess Tour with $1.5 million in prizes to kick off next week