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Challengers Chess Tour

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CHALLENGERS CHESS TOUR IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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Meet the teams

Check the standings

Read the schedule

News

Mentors

About

Judit Polgar

A living legend in chess, Judit is the all-time No.1 female player and former world No.8 who once held the record for the youngest Grandmaster of all time. The inspirational mother of two, whose sister Susan is also a Grandmaster, is now retired and turning her attention to finding the next Judit Polgar.

About

Vladimir Kramnik

A giant in chess with a unique place in its history. Vlad ended Garry Kasparov’s reign as World Champion in 2000 and reigned supreme in 2006 to become the first undisputed title-holder for more than two decades. Known for his strategic genius, every player in world chess looks up to the great Vladimir Kramnik.

Teams

click on the players to learn more

Team Polgar coaches

Ju Wenjun

Surya Ganguly

Arthur Kogan

Team Kramnik coaches

Hou
Yifan

Boris Gelfand

Anna Muzychuk

FINALISTS

Vicent Keymer

Christopher Yoo

Lei Tingjie

Awonder Liang

Praggnanandhaa R

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Volodar Murzin

Leon Mendonca

STANDINGS

Team Polgar

324.5

Team Kramnik

302.5

#

Player

Points

1

Vicent Keymer

73

2-3

Awonder Liang

63

2-3

Christopher Yoo

63

4

Volodar Murzin

61

5

Praggnanandhaa R

57

6

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

52

7

Lei Tingjie

47

8

Leon Luke Mendonca

46

#

Player

Points

9

Gukesh D

38

10

Zhu Jiner

37

11

Nihal Sarin

33

12

Jonas Buhl Bjerre

26

13

Sara Khadem

25

14-15

Gunay Mammadzada

20

14-15

Polina Shuvalova

20

16

Carissa Yip

19

Finals Schedule

Team Polgar

324.5

Team Kramnik

302.5

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ABOUT

What is the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour?

The Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour is a set of tournaments running alongside the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, and featuring some of the world’s most exciting young chess players. These players will compete individually as well as in their teams, and so we’ll have a tournament winner as well as a winning team on the final day.

Vladimir Kramnik and Judit Polgar, together with their teams of world-renowned coaches, will provide weekly coaching sessions with the players throughout the Tour. 

The Tour will feature four “Challenges” and one Final for a total of five events. The Challenges will each be four-day, round robin tournaments, while the Final will bring the top 8 players together for a thrilling knock-out tournament to decide the winner of the Tour. All tournaments will be played in rapid format (10+5) with all games played on chess24.

The Tour will bring together 20 of the most exciting young male and female chess players. There will be ten female and ten male players split into two teams: Team Polgar and Team Kramnik. Stay tuned for the announcement of the lineup!

The Tour will be broadcast live on this website as well as chess24.com, and also available on chess24’s official YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels. The first event will feature Judit Polgar and Vladimir Kramnik as commentators.

Tournament schedule

April

8-11

Polgar Challenge

$15K Prize Fund

+ Wildcard to following Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament

June

10-13

Gelfand Challenge

$15K Prize Fund

+ Wildcard to following Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament

Presenting Partner:

August

12-15

Kramnik Challenge

$15K Prize Fund

+ Wildcard to following Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament

September

18-21

Hou Yifan Challenge

$15K Prize Fund

+ Wildcard to following Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament

October

14-17

Final

$40K Prize Fund

+ Invitation to Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2021-2022 season