Champions Chess Tour 2022
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 19 February 2022 – 20 November 2022 |
| Tournaments | 9 |
| Categories | Regular (6) Major (3) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles |  Magnus Carlsen (2) |
| Prize money leader | Magnus Carlsen ($63,500) |
→ | |
The Champions Chess Tour 2022, known for sponsorship reasons as the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, is a 9-month series of nine online chess tournaments featuring some of the world's top players, who play for a prize money pool of US$1.6 million. The tour started on February 19, 2022 and will last until November 20, 2022.[1]
Schedule[]
There are 9 tournaments in the tour: 6 labelled as Regular and 3 labelled as Major.
| Dates | Tournament Name | Type |
|---|---|---|
| February 19–26 | Airthings Masters | Regular |
| March 19–26 | Charity Cup | Regular |
| April 20–28 | Major | |
| May 19–26 | Regular | |
| July 10–17 | Regular | |
| August 12–20 | Major | |
| September 18–25 | Regular | |
| October 14–21 | Regular | |
| November 11–20 | Major |
Format[]
The format will be similar to that in the previous season, with some innovations.[2][3][4]
Qualification[]
Regular[]
Each Regular tournament will have 16 participants. In all Regular tournaments but the first, the top 8 players from the previous tournament (Regular or Major) will be invited. The remaining spots are filled by wildcards chosen by the organizer.
Major[]
Each Major tournament will have 8 participants: the top two players of each of the previous two Regular tournaments, the top two players in the overall tour standings, and two wildcards. The tour regulations do not specify what happens if these groups of players overlap.
Time controls[]
Three different time controls are used in the tour:
- In rapid games, each player has 15 minutes, plus a 10-second increment for each move.
- In blitz games, each player has 5 minutes, plus a 3-second increment for each move.
- In Armageddon games, White has 5 minutes and Black has 4 minutes, with no increment.
Stages[]
Regular[]
Each Regular tournament consists of a preliminary stage with 15 rounds and a knockout stage with three rounds. In the preliminary stage, 16 players participate in a round-robin spanning four days, with each player playing one rapid game against each other player, for a total of 120 games. In contrast to the previous season, a win scores 3 points and a draw scores 1 point. The eight players with the most points advance to the next stage. Ties are resolved according to the following criteria, in that order:
- Result in the game(s) between the tied players
- Number of wins (including forfeits)
- Sonneborn–Berger score
- Koya score
In the quarterfinals and semifinals, each matchup consists of four rapid games played on a single day, with one point for a win and half a point for a draw. Ties are resolved by a playoff consisting of two blitz games. If these also end in a tie, an Armageddon game is played; if this ends in a draw, the Black player wins the round. The player who ranked higher in the preliminary stage gets to pick a colour.
The final consists of two matches of four rapid games each, played on successive days. Each match is scored separately. A tie (if each player wins one match or both matches are tied) is resolved as in the other knockout rounds. There is no match for third place.
Major[]
Each Major tournament will be a round-robin tournament among eight players, without a knockout stage. Each pair of players plays a match of four rapid games as in the knockout stage of Regular tournaments, including blitz and Armageddon tie-breaks if necessary. If the match is decided in the rapid games, the winner gets 3 match points; if it is decided in tie-breaks, the winner gets 2 match points and the loser 1 match point. Ties in the total match points at the end of the tournament are resolved according to the following criteria, in that order:
- Result in the game(s) between the tied players
- Number of wins (including forfeits)
Tour points and prize money[]
There is no longer a distinction between tour points and prize money as in the previous season. The player who accumulates the most prize money over the course of the tour wins the tour.[1] The winner is awarded an additional $50,000.
Regular[]
The total prize pool for a Regular tournament is $150,000, of which $60,000 are distributed as follows:[3]
| Finish | Prize |
|---|---|
| Winner | $25,000 |
| Runner-up | $15,000 |
| Semifinalists | $6,000 |
| Quarterfinalists | $2,000 |
In other words, $2,000 are awarded for reaching the quarterfinals, $4,000 for winning a quarterfinal, $9,000 for winning a semifinal and $10,000 for winning a final.
The remaining $90,000 can be won in the preliminary stage, with $250 being awarded per point, that is, $750 for a win and $250 for a draw. The remaining $250 in case of a draw accumulate in a bonus pot that starts out with $20,000 and is used for performance awards at the end of the season.
Major[]
The total prize pool for a Major tournament is $210,000, with $2,500 being awarded for each match point. A player with less than 2 match points nevertheless receives $5,000, but only the prize money earned with match points is included in the tour standings.
Results[]
Tournament results[]
| Tournament Name | Type | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airthings Masters | Regular | Magnus Carlsen
|
 Ian Nepomniachtchi
|
| Charity Cup | Regular | Magnus Carlsen
|
 Jan-Krzysztof Duda
|
| Major | |||
| Regular | |||
| Regular | |||
| Major | |||
| Regular | |||
| Regular | |||
| Major |
Tour rankings[]
Prize money is shown in thousands of US dollars. An asterisk denotes a Major tournament.
| Pos | Name | Airthings Masters | Charity Cup | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen
|
31¼ | 32¼ | 63½ |
| 2 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda
|
4¼ | 20¾ | 25 |
| 3 |  Ian Nepomniachtchi
|
22¼ | 22¼ | |
| 4 |  Lê Quang Liêm
|
7½ | 14 | 21½ |
| 5 |  Ding Liren
|
7½ | 11¾ | 19¼ |
| 6 | Vladislav Artemiev
|
12 | 12 | |
| Andrey Esipenko
|
12 | 12 | ||
| 8 |  Eric Hansen
|
7¾ | 4 | 11¾ |
| 9 |  Hans Niemann
|
3¾ | 7½ | 11¼ |
| 10 |  Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa
|
4¾ | 5¼ | 10 |
| 11 |  Jorden van Foreest
|
8¾ | 8¾ | |
| 12 |  David Antón Guijarro
|
8 | 8 | |
| 13 |  Vincent Keymer
|
7½ | 7½ | |
| 14 |  David Navara
|
7¼ | 7¼ | |
| 15 |  Richárd Rapport
|
5¼ | 5¼ | |
| Anish Giri
|
5¼ | 5¼ | ||
| Levon Aronian
|
5¼ | 5¼ | ||
| 18 | Vidit Gujrathi
|
5 | 5 | |
| 19 |  Nodirbek Abdusattorov
|
4¾ | 4¾ | |
| 20 |  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
|
4¼ | 4¼ | |
| 21 | Pentala Harikrishna
|
4 | 4 | |
| 22 |  Gawain Jones
|
2½ | 2½ | |
| Ju Wenjun
|
2½ | 2½ | ||
| 24 | Alexandra Kosteniuk
|
¾ | ¾ | |
| 25 | Lei Tingjie
|
½ | ½ |
| Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Did not participate | Eliminated in preliminary stage | Lost in quarterfinals | Lost in semifinals | Runner-Up | Winner | ||||||
The bonus pot, which started off with $20,000, has grown to $40,000 due to 80 draws in preliminary stages.
Tournaments[]
Airthings Masters[]
This initial tournament started on February 19 and ended on February 26.
Preliminary stage[]
| Name | Elo | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia)
|
2773 | – | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 29 |
| 02 | Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
|
2865 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 25 |
| 03 | Vladislav Artemiev (Russia)
|
2700 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
| 04 | Andrey Esipenko (Russia)
|
2714 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
| 05 | Eric Hansen (Canada)
|
2606 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| 06 | Ding Liren (China)
|
2799 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | – | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 22 |
| 07 | Lê Quang Liêm (Vietnam)
|
2709 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | – | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 22 |
| 08 | Vincent Keymer (Germany)
|
2664 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
| 09 | Levon Aronian (United States)
|
2772 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 |
| 10 | Anish Giri (Netherlands)
|
2772 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (India)
|
2612 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 |
| 12 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan)
|
2651 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| 13 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland)
|
2760 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| 14 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan)
|
2767 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| 15 | Hans Niemann (United States)
|
2642 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | 3 | 15 |
| 16 | Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia)
|
2516 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 |
Knockout stage[]
| Quarterfinals (February 23) | Semifinals (February 24) | Final (February 25–26) | ||||||||||||||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Vincent Keymer | 1½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Andrey Esipenko | ½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Eric Hansen | 1 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Andrey Esipenko | 3 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2 | ½ | – | |||||||||||||
| Magnus Carlsen | 2 | 2½ | – | |||||||||||||
| Vladislav Artemiev | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Ding Liren | 1½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Vladislav Artemiev | ½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Magnus Carlsen | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Lê Quang Liêm | 1½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Magnus Carlsen | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
Charity Cup[]
This tournament started on March 19 and will end on March 26.
Preliminary stage[]
| Name | ELO | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lê Quang Liêm (Vietnam)
|
2709 | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 32 |
| 02 | Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
|
2864 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 29 |
| 03 | Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands)
|
2714 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 27 |
| 04 | David Antón Guijarro (Spain)
|
2694 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
| 05 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland)
|
2750 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| 06 | Ding Liren (China)
|
2799 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 23 |
| 07 | Hans Niemann (United States)
|
2642 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
| 08 | David Navara (Czech Republic)
|
2700 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| 09 | Richárd Rapport (Hungary)
|
2762 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| 10 | Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (India)
|
2619 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Vidit Gujrathi (India)
|
2723 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| 12 | Eric Hansen (Canada)
|
2606 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| 13 | Pentala Harikrishna (India)
|
2716 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| 14 | Gawain Jones (England)
|
2672 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 15 | Ju Wenjun (China)
|
2560 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 10 |
| 16 | Lei Tingjie (China)
|
2535 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 2 |
Knockout stage[]
| Quarterfinals (March 23) | Semifinals (March 24) | Final (March 25–26) | ||||||||||||||
| Lê Quang Liêm | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| David Navara | 1½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Lê Quang Liêm | 1½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| David Antón Guijarro | ½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | ½ | 2½ | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Magnus Carlsen | 2½ | 1½ | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Jorden van Foreest | ½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Ding Liren | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Ding Liren | 1 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Magnus Carlsen | 3 | – | ||||||||||||||
| Hans Niemann | ½ | – | ||||||||||||||
| Magnus Carlsen | 2½ | – | ||||||||||||||
References[]
- ^ a b "'BRING IT ON!' $1.6m Tour is back with an exciting new format". chess24.com. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "Tour Regulations, what's new?". chess24.com. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Airthings Masters kicks off Meltwater Champions Chess Tour". 1 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "Airthings Masters kicks off 2022 Tour with youngest ever line-up". 1 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- Chess competitions
- 2022 in chess
- Current chess seasons