Play Magnus Group is serving up a feast of chess entertainment this month with the next event in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, the New In Chess Classic.
The event, the fifth leg of the Tour, celebrates the game’s top magazine New In Chess. It starts on April 24 as the FIDE Candidates tournament nears its conclusion.
Fans will be able to watch both events back-to-back on chess24.
Great moments in chess history, and the magazine that reported them, will be highlighted throughout the nine-day Tour event. A prize pot of $100,000 will also be at stake.
Sixteen top stars will feature as the action is broadcast on TV around the world. As usual, chess24’s internet streaming channels will stream every move with expert commentary.
World Champion Magnus Carlsen, fresh from commentating live on the FIDE Candidates event, will be joined by four new faces on the Tour.
Indian wonderkid Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has qualified to make the step up. He made it after winning the first event of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, the Polgar Challenge.
First Englishman
Pragg will be joined by Gawain Jones, the first English Grandmaster to feature on the Meltwater tour. Two young Norwegian prospects, Aryan Tari and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, also get the chance to compete.
Alireza Firouzja, the teenage “Crown Prince” of chess, will return after being voted in by chess24.com Premium members.
The remaining players, with their means of qualification, are:
Wesley So – #1 Tour Standings;
Teimour Radjabov – #3 Tour Standings;
Levon Aronian – #6 Tour Standings;
Hikaru Nakamura – #8 Tour Standings;
Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Wildcard;
Vidit Gujrathi – Wildcard;
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Wildcard;
Le Quang Liem – Wildcard;
Sergey Karjakin – Wildcard;
Leinier Dominguez – Wildcard.
New In Chess was acquired by Play Magnus Group, the organiser of the Tour, in February.
Play will begin at 19:00 CEST immediately after Round 12 of the Candidates tournament in Russia.
Cut-throat rapid format
Three of the players who qualified for the New In Chess Classic via the Tour Standings will not take part as they are involved in the Candidates. They are Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Anish Giri.
Daniil Dubov was also voted in by chess24 Premium members alongside Firouzja but the Russian is unable to play. He has been drafted in as a commentator for the Candidates on the official FIDE stream.
The format will again be rapid chess in the chess24 Playzone, with 15 minutes per game and a 10-second increment per move.
Coverage of the Candidates, the final eliminator before the World Chess Championship, will be broadcast with commentary from the title-holder himself, Magnus Carlsen.
The Candidates starts on April 19 and coverage will be available here from 13:00.
Coverage of the New In Chess Classic, meanwhile, will be available in several languages on chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour website here: /
The New In Chess Classic runs from April 24 to May 2.
