Vidit, Harikrishna and Praggnanandhaa will duke it out with World's best at Chessable Masters 2022

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/05/2022

The fourth leg of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022 season is the third edition of Chessable Masters. Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna and Praggnanandhaa the Indian trio will make a return to the tour together after Charity Cup this past March. Ding Liren will be seen in action after becoming World no.2 and qualifying for the Candidates 2022. They will be joined by the tour leader, world champion and world no.1 Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Jorden van Foreest, Anish Giri, Aryan Tari, David Anton Guijarro, Sam Shankland, Gawain Jones, Nils Grandelius, Eric Hansen, Yi Wei and World's youngest GM Abhimanyu Mishra. Chessable Masters Round 1 starts tonight at 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: chess24

Harikrishna will face Vidit in Round 1

The first round of Chessable Masters 2022 will witness a clash between India no.2 Vidit Gujrathi vs India no.3 Pentala Harikrishna. The tournament will also see a battle between World no.1 Magnus Carlsen and World no.2 Ding Liren in Round 13 on Sunday 22nd May at 9:30 p.m. IST.

Chessable Masters 2022 players line up | Photo: chess24

Pairings and Schedule

There will be a 4-day preliminary round-robin stage of rapid chess (15+10), before the top eight players advance to the knockout stage. The Quarterfinals and Semifinals match is played in one day with four rapid games each day. Only Finals will last two days, consisting of two matches with four Rapid games each. If the match score is tied, the players will then play two 5+3 blitz games followed by, if needed - Armageddon.

Round 1 pairings | Photo: chess24

Chessable Masters 2022 schedule | Photo: chess24

All games will start from 9:30 p.m. IST between 19th and 26th May 2022.

Chessable Masters Participants

Magnus Carlsen is currently leading the tour standings table with $93,500 so far. Praggnanandhaa. Jorden van Foreest, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri are at fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh in the tour standings. Ding Liren will make a return to the tour after becoming World no.2 and qualifying for the Candidates. They will be joined by Eric Hansen, David Anton Guijarro, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, Gawain Jones along with the debutants of the 2022 season - World's youngest GM Abhimanyu Mishra, Sam Shankland and Sweden no.1 Nils Grandelius. Yi Wei and Aryan Tari are two invited players.

Prizes

The total prize fund of the Tour is $1,600,000. The prize fund for Chessable Masters is $150,000. A win earns $750, while a draw fetches one-third of a victory, $250. Winner gets $25000, Runner-up $15000, Semifinalists $6000 and Quarterfinalists $2000.

Total Prize fund for Chessable Masters s is US$ 150000 | Photo: chess24

Literally every game matters because the earnings decide the overall tour standings | Photo: chess24

Tour Standings

The Tour Standings are determined by the sum of the prizes earned by each player throughout the season. If two or more players have the same sum of prizes at any stage, the tie shall be resolved according to the following criteria:

1.Number of tournament wins (more is better)

2.Number of events played (less is better)

3.Number of appearances in a final (more is better)

4.Number of appearances in a semi-final (more is better)

5.Number of appearances in a quarter-final (more is better)

If the tie affects qualification for a Tour event, a play-off shall be held between all tied players. The format will be determined in due time, depending on the number of players and the Tour schedule. The Organizer retains the right to forego such play-offs. In that case, ties will be resolved by the criteria above. The Season Bonus Prize Fund will not count towards the Tour Standings.