Praggnanandhaa gets a Wildcard to the Oslo Esports Cup

by Shahid Ahmed - 22/04/2022

The first Major event of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022 season will be Oslo Esports Cup. It will also be the first fully in-person esports event in chess. It means all eight players will be playing from chess24 studio in Oslo, Norway. Praggnanandhaa got a Wildcard to the tournament along with Jorden van Foreest, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri. The Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022 winner will also be seen fighting against Magnus Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Liem Quang Le and Eric Hansen. Each match of the round-robin tournament will comprise four games. Oslo Esports Cup Round 1 starts tonight at 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: chess24

First completely in-person Esports event in Chess

The Oslo Esports Cup will be the first time the richest and most prestigious online tour in chess has hosted a fully in-person event from one arena, chess24.com’s dedicated broadcast studio.

Oslo Esports Cup 2022 players line up | Photo: chess24

Pairings and Schedule

All eight players will play a round-robin tournament. Each match will be played each day, consisting of four games. The winner will be the player who accrues the most points and cash overall.

Round 1 pairings | Photo: chess24

Oslo Esports Cup 2022 schedule | Photo: chess24

All games will start from 9:30 p.m. IST between 22nd and 28th April 2022.

Oslo Esports Cup Participants

Magnus Carlsen is currently leading the Tour standings table with $63,500 so far. He is followed Jan-Krzysztof Duda at $25000. World Blitz 2013 champion, Liem Quang Le is at fourth place $21500. Eric Hansen is at eighth place on the tour standings with $11750. Jorden van Foreest, Praggnanandhaa, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri are the Wildcard entrants in this event.

The four Wildcard participants - Jorden van Foreest, Praggnanandhaa R, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri | Photo: chess24

Prizes

The total prize fund of the Tour is $1,600,000. The prize fund for Oslo Esports Cup is $210,000. Each match of four games has $7500 up for grabs. In case of tie-breaks, the winner will get $5000 and the loser gets $2500.

Total Prize fund for Oslo Esporst Cup s is US$ 210000 | 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.