The 2021 Grand Chess Tour is a series of over-the-board chess events comprised of two classical and three rapid & blitz tournaments featuring top chess players. The entire tour has a total prize fund of $1,275,000, with $325,000 per classical event, $150,000 per rapid & blitz event, and a $175,000 bonus for the overall winners of the tour.
Format
- The tour consists of five different tournaments;
- There are two classic tournaments and three rapid & blitz tournaments;
- Each tour event has a separate prize fund;
- Players receive Grand Chess Tour Points based on their final standings in each tour tournament;
- The top three players with the most points at the end of the tour receive additional prizes.
Events
Classical
- Superbet Chess Classic Romania
- Sinquefield Cup
Rapid & Blitz
- Paris Rapid & Blitz
- Croatia Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz
- St Louis Rapid & Blitz
Schedule
- June 5-14: Superbet Chess Classic Romania
- June 18-22: Paris Rapid & Blitz
- July 7-11: Croatia Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz
- August 11-15: St Louis Rapid & Blitz
- August 17–26: Sinquefield Cup
- August 27: Grand Chess Tour Playoff
Grand Chess Tour Points
The final standings in each separate event will determine how many Grand Chess Tour points the participant players receive, according to the table below:
| Place | GCT Tour Points |
| 1st | 13* |
| 2nd | 10 |
| 3rd | 8 |
| 4th | 7 |
| 5th | 6 |
| 6th | 5 |
| 7th | 4 |
| 8th | 3 |
| 9th | 2 |
| 10th | 1 |
*12 points if the winner is decided in a tiebreaker.
Players
Below you can see the list of players participating in the entire tour. They will play in both classical events and two of the three rapid & blitz tournaments:
- GM Fabiano Caruana
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
- GM Wesley So
- GM Alexander Grischuk
- GM Levon Aronian
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
- GM Teimour Radjabov
- GM Anish Giri
- GM Richard Rapport
Ten other players will participate in the rapid & blitz events as wildcards.
Results
Below you can see each player’s current position in the overall tour:
| Position | Player | Federation | GCT Points |
| 1 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 22 | |
| 2 | Wesley So | 21.3 | |
| 3 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 18 | |
| 4 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 16.5 | |
| 5 | Levon Aronian | 13.8 | |
| 6 | Anish Giri | 13.5 | |
| 7 | Alexander Grischuk | 12.3 | |
| 8 | Viswanathan Anand | 10 | |
| 9 | Alireza Firouzja | 7.5 | |
| 10 | Fabiano Caruana | 7 | |
| 11 | Teimour Radjabov | 6.5 | |
| 12 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 6.5 | |
| 13 | Richárd Rapport | 5.5 | |
| 14 | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 3.5 | |
| 15 | Peter Svidler | 3.5 | |
| 16 | Anton Korobov | 3 | |
| 17 | Etienne Bacrot | 2 | |
| 17 | Vladimir Kramnik | 2 | |
| 18 | Ivan Saric | 2 | |
| 19 | Garry Kasparov | 2 | |
| 19 | Constantin Lupulescu | 1.5 | |
| 20 | Jorden van Foreest | 1 | |
| 21 | Le Quang Liem | ||
| 21 | Hikaru Nakamura | ||
| 21 | Jeffery Xiong | ||
| 21 | Sam Shankland |
Prizes
The tour has a total prize fund of $1,275,000, distributed as follows:
Classic Events
Every classic event will have a $325,000 prize fund:
- 1st: $90,000
- 2nd: $60,000
- 3rd: $45,000
- 4th: $30,000
- 5th: $25,000
- 6th: $20,000
- 7th: $17,500
- 8th: $15,000
- 9th: $12,500
- 10th: $10,000
Rapid & Blitz Events
Every classic event will have a $150,000 prize fund:
- 1st: $37,500
- 2nd: $25,00
- 3rd: $20,000
- 4th: $15,000
- 5th: $12,500
- 6th: $10,000
- 7th: $9,000
- 8th: $8,000
- 9th: $7,000
- 10th: $6,000
Grand Chess Tour Overall Winners
There is an additional $175,000 prize fund for the three overall winners of the tour:
- 1st: 100,000
- 2nd: 50,000
- 3rd: 25,000
Locations
- 2021 Superbet Chess Classic: Sheraton Bucharest Hotel, Bucharest, Romania;
- 2021 Paris Rapid & Blitz: Mobilier National, Paris, France;
- 2021 Croatia Grand Chess Tour: Kongresni Centar NSK, Zagreb, Croatia;
- 2021 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA;
- 2021 Sinquefield Cup: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
