Chess.com Global Championship & Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Coming Together In 2023

Chess.com is pleased to announce that the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, and the Chess.com Global Championship will be joining forces in 2023 to create a unified series of chess. This massive event will take place on February 6, It spans the whole year. Six tournaments culminate with one final championship, and a total prize pool of $80,000 $2,000,000This is the largest Chess.com event in history.

Magnus Carlsen is the reigning World Champion and the winner of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

The event will be enjoyed by fans who can also see other talented players in the chess elite taking part. The exciting new series also features other players from the chess elite. Each player will be given an opportunity to play. Six events that lead to the championship finals include qualifiers for titled players as well as top Chess.com players. This system will ensure that every chess professional can earn money and grab the spotlight doing what they love—playing chess.

Chess.com recently acquired the Play Magnus Group. This event series was created by Chess.com. Two events that were hugely popular with Chess.com users in 2022 were the Chess.com Global Championship, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.

The Chess.com Global Championship brought an event where any player could take part. The event’s knockout bracket format was paired with a bidding warden tiebreak system to create the ideal environment for a thrilling competition. The championship was elevated to a whole new level by the event’s live finals.

Wesley So won 2022 Chess.com Global Championship. Photo by Eric Rosen/Chess.com

With its year-long cycle, state-of-the art studio production and Carlsen’s leadership, the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour was also a mainstay in chess events.

Both companies now work together to combine the best elements of both competitions. This event will feature a year-long, cohesive schedule as well as the largest prize fund in online Chess history.

Arne Horvei is the Tour Director of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. “We are very proud of all that the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour accomplished over the past years for our players, fans, and partners around world,” he said. “We look forward to combining our efforts with Chess.com’s in order to create the most compelling and innovative chess events yet.”

We look forward to combining the efforts of Chess.com and ours to create some of the most innovative and compelling chess events ever.
— Arne Horvei, Tour Director

Michael Brancato, Chess.com’s Vice President of Esports, stated that he is very excited about the new series and its implications for professional chess competition. This event is a huge step forward in competitive chess with its modernized format and clearer scheduling.

What will the Event Series look like?

This event is an evolution of the Chess.com Global Championship, and Chess24’s Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. It combines the best aspects of both competitions.

6 Events

This will be similar to the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and consist of six events that culminate in the final. The previous round-robin format has been replaced by a double-elimination bracket, where players compete in fast games.

These six tournaments will be held throughout the year.

Event 1: Feb 6-10

Event 2: April 3-7

Event 3: May 22-26

Event 4: July 10-14

Event 5: September 28-September 1

Event 6: September 25-29

Open Qualification System

Each event will include a qualification system that gives professional players more opportunities to take part in elite tournaments. The qualifiers are open to all grandmasters, as well any player on Chess.com’s top-500 rapid leaderboard. More details will follow.

A Stacked Championship

A high-stakes tournament with eight players concludes the exciting new event series. A playoff with eight players will decide which four players advance to the finals. The knockout tournament will determine the winner.

You can either watch or participate in this exciting new series of events. Stay tuned for more information in January!

What are your hopes for this event?? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!