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Champions Chess Tour 2023: All The Information

Champions Chess Tour 2023: All The Information

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The 2023 Champions Chess Tour (CCT) is the biggest and most important online chess tournament series to date. The tour features six events spanning the entire year and culminates in live in-person Finals.

The CCT features a $2,000,000 prize fund and the best players in the world.


CCT Finalists

The following eight players qualified to play in the CCT Finals, happening live in Toronto, Canada.

Champions Chess Tour 2023 finalists

Events And Results

The CCT features six events and live in-person Finals. Below, you can learn more about each event. You can also visit the event's official website for more information about the format.

Airthings Masters

The first event of the tour happened in February 2023. Below are the results:

  • GM Magnus Carlsen: Division I winner.
  • GM Hikaru Nakamura: Division I runner-up.
  • GM Wesley So: Division I third place.
  • GM Fabiano Caruana: Division II winner.

Champions Chess Tour Airthings Masters Results

Chessable Masters

The second event of the tour happened in March 2023. Below are the results:

  • GM Hikaru Nakamura: Division I winner.
  • GM Fabiano Caruana: Division I runner-up.
  • GM Magnus Carlsen: Division I third place.
  • GM Nodirbek Abdussattorov: Division II winner.

Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters Results

ChessKid Cup

The Play-in of the third event of the tour happened on May 1, and the Knockout on May 22 through 26

Below are the results

  • GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov: Division I winner.
  • GM Fabiano Caruana: Division I runner-up.
  • GM Jorden van Foreest: Division I third place.
  • GM Vladimir Fedoseev: Division II winner.

Champions Chess Tour ChessKid Cup results

Aimchess Rapid

The Play-in of the fourth event of the tour happened on June 12, and the Knockout on July 10 through 14.

Below are the results

  • GM Magnus Carlsen: Division I winner.
  • GM Wesley So: Division I runner-up.
  • GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov: Division I third place.
  • GM Denis Lazavik: Division II winner.

Aimchess Rapid 2023 winners Champions Chess Tour

Julius Baer Generation Cup

The Play-in of the fifth event of the tour happened on July 24, and the Knockout happened on August 30 through September 3.

Below are the results

  • GM Magnus Carlsen: Division I winner.
  • GM Alireza Firouzja: Division I runner-up.
  • GM Denis Lazavik: Division I third place.
  • GM Ian Nepomniachtchi: Division II winner.

Champions Chess Tour Julius Baer Generation Cup Results

AI Cup

The Play-in of the sixth event of the tour happened on September 18, and the Knockout on September 25 through 29.

Below are the results:

  • GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: Division I winner.
    GM Magnus Carlsen: Division I runner-up.
    GM Ian Nepomniachtchi: Division I third place.
    GM Vladimir Fedoseev: Division II winner.

Champions Chess Tour AI Cup winners 2023

Champions Chess Tour Finals

The CCT Finals happen on December 9 through 16. The Finals consist of a single-elimination bracket featuring the champion of each of the tour's events and the top players from the tour leaderboard.

Tour Leaderboard

Below is the overall tour standings. Click here to learn more about the Tour Point system.

Pos Name Fed Tour points Total prizes
1 Magnus Carlsen 625 $125,000
2 Nodirbek Abdusattorov 325 $67,500
3 Fabiano Caruana 325 $75,000
4 Hikaru Nakamura 290 $65,000
5 Wesley So 235 $55,000
6 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 180 $37,500
7 Alireza Firouzja 180 $47,500
8 Denis Lazavik 175 $44,300
9 Vladimir Fedoseev 148 $39,000
10 Ian Nepomniachtchi 131 $28,500
11 Levon Aronian 110 $30,000
12 Sam Sevian 98 $25,700
13 Jorden van Foreest 95 $22,500
14 Vladislav Artemiev 80 $23,500
15 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 80 $22,900
16 Anish Giri 75 $20,300
17 Yu Yangyi 69 $19,100
18 Alexey Sarana 66 $24,600
19 Eduardo Iturrizaga 60 $18,100
20 Arjun Erigaisi 56 $16,000

Schedule

The CCT Finals happen on December 9 through 16. The start time will be announced soon. 

Tour Points

After each event, players earn CCT Tour Points based on their placement in each division, according to the table below: 

Placing Division I Division II Division III
1st 150 50 20
2nd 100 30 15
3rd 75 20 10
4th 50 15 8
5th (x2) 30 10 6
7th (x2) 20 8 5
9th (x4) - 6 4
13th (x4) - 5 3
17th (x8) - - 2
25th (x8) - - 1

Prizes

The Champions Chess Tour features a $2,000,000 prize fund, the biggest prize fund for an online chess event in history. Individual events count with a $235,000 prize purse, $500,000 go to the Finals, and $100,000 to the CCT Leaderboard.

Below is a breakdown of the prize pot.

Champions Chess Tour Events: $235,000 each

Placing Division I Division II Division III
1st $30,000 $10,000 $5,000
2nd $20,000 $7,500 $3,600
3rd $15,000 $6,000 $2,800
4th $12,500 $5,000 $2,400
5th (x2) $10,000 $4,500 $2,000
7th (x2) $7,500 $4,000 $1,800
9th (x4) - $3,500 $1,600
13th (x4) - $3,000 $1,400
17th (x8) - - $1,200
25th (x8) - - $1,000
Total $112,500 $71,500 $51,000

Champions Chess Tour Leaderboard: $100,000

Placing Prize
1st $25,000
2nd $20,000
3rd $16,000
4th $12,000
5th $9,000
6th $7,000
7th $5,000
8th $3,000
9th $2,000
10th $1,000

Champions Chess Tour Finals: $500,000

Placing Prize
1st $200,000
2nd $100,000
3rd (x2) $50,000
5th $25,000
6th $20,000
7th $15,000
8th $12,000
Per Playoff match win $1,000

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