"I love playing chess and I'll continue to do that..."

"I have played some poker tournaments recently. I have no intentions whatsoever of pursuing that. It's just for fun. I'm not very good at it but I like it. In terms of the world chess championship, I have no plans of competing in those events in the near future, but I don't rule it out either. In terms of future plans, I love playing chess and I’ll continue to do that, starting tomorrow!" - Magnus Carlsen on poker and his aspiration for world chess championship.

Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023 participants | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Superbet Rapid and Blitz will be second of the five events part of Grand Chess Tour 2023 | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Schedule and Format

Superbet Rapid and Blitz will have three rounds per day in the Rapid portion from 21st to 23rd May. The Blitz event will take place on 24th and 25th May. It will be a double round-robin event for the Blitz which means nine rounds will be played on each day. Everyday game starts at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control for Rapid will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment and for Blitz, it will be 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment from move no.1.

Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023 schedule | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Participants

The lineup includes the World no.1 - Magnus Carlsen, World no.6 - Anish Giri, World no.8 - Wesley So, the only two-time FIDE World Cup winner in history - Levon Aronian, the reigning World Champion Ding Liren's second and Romania no.1 - Richard Rapport, former World Blitz champion - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, FIDE World Cup 2021 winner - Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Romania no.2 Bogdan-Daniel Deac, Poland no.2 - Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Romania no.3 - Kirill Shevchenko.

The participants of the Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023 | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Round 1 pairings | Photo: Gramd Chess Tour

Prize

The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 175000 with the first prize being US$ 40000.

Prize details | Photo: Grand Chess Tour

Magnus Carlsen and CEO of Superbet Poland, Adam Lamentowicz made the first move at the opening ceremony

A glimpse of the simultaneous exhibition

WGM Anastasiya Karlovych was one of the participants in the simul

Magnus Carlsen talks about his future plans

Photo Gallery

Superbet Rapid and Blitz 2023 participants with organizers and sponsors | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Magnus Carlsen is happy to be competing again | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

He was seen donning the 'Magnus Carlsen' signature edition of Puma shoes | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Wesley So has his eyes on Carlsen? | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Wesley So got number 3 in Rapid | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave got 5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Poland no.2 Radoslaw Wojtaszek got number 2 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Magnus Carlsen and CEO of Superbet Poland, Adam Lamentowicz made the inaugural first move | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Magnus Carlsen and Jan-Krzysztof Duda took part in a Q&A session | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Jan-Krzysztof Duda got number 4 in Rapid | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Anish Giri got James Bond's number | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Magnus Carlsen played simul | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

A view from the audience | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations