Grand Chess Tour 2015
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Grand Chess Tour 2015 was the inaugural edition of Grand Chess Tour, an annual circuit of chess tournaments. It was won by incumbent World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen.
| 2015 | |
2015 Grand Chess Tour winner Magnus Carlsen. | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15 June–14 December 2015 |
| Host(s) | Stavanger St. Louis London |
| Final positions | |
| Champion |  Magnus Carlsen |
| Runner-up |  Anish Giri |
| 3rd place |  Levon Aronian |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Prize money leader | Magnus Carlsen ($215,000) |
| Points leader | Magnus Carlsen (26) |
The Grand Chess Tour was announced on April 24, 2015, prior to the match between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short, and was billed as "the biggest announcement in professional chess since 1988."[1] It had three events – Norway Chess in June, Sinquefield Cup in August and London Chess Classic in December. Each tournament consisted of nine regular tour players, who were selected based on their rating, and one wildcard.
Format
Scoring system was as follows:
Place Points 1st 12/13* 2nd 10 3rd 8 4th 7 5th 6 6th 5 7th 4 8th 3 9th 2 10th 1
Lineup
Eight players, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen, were selected based on their ratings in January 2015. Ninth player invited to the tour was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Notably, Sergey Karjakin was absent, despite him being two-time Norway Chess winner and 11th on FIDE rankings in January 2015, while No. 8 Vladimir Kramnik and No. 10 Wesley So declined their invitations.[2]
| Player | Country | Rating (January 2015) |
|---|---|---|
| Magnus Carlsen | Norway |
2862 |
| Fabiano Caruana |  Italy[a] |
2820 |
| Alexander Grischuk |  Russia |
2810 |
| Veselin Topalov |  Bulgaria |
2800 |
| Viswanathan Anand |  India |
2797 |
| Levon Aronian | Armenia |
2797 |
| Anish Giri | Netherlands |
2784 |
| Hikaru Nakamura |  United States |
2776 |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |  France |
2757 |
Schedule and results
| Dates | Tournament | Host city | Winner | Runner-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 15–26 | Norway Chess | Stavanger |
Veselin Topalov |
Viswanathan Anand |
 Hikaru Nakamura |
| August 22–September 3 | Sinquefield Cup | St. Louis |
Levon Aronian |
Magnus Carlsen |
Hikaru Nakamura |
| December 4–13 | London Chess Classic |  London |
Magnus Carlsen |
Anish Giri |
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |
Tournaments
Norway Chess
Wildcard qualifier
EnterCard Chess Qualifier took place in Oslo, Norway on May 10–15, 2015, and determined last wildcard spot. Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway won the tournament to qualify into the main event.[3]
EnterCard Chess Qualifier, May 10–15, Oslo, Norway Player Classical Rapid Total
PointsRating 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points 1 
GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)2665 1 1 2 2 2 8 2578 1 ½ ½ 1 1 4 12 2 
GM Laurent Fressinet (FRA)2712 1 2 1 2 2 8 2707 0 ½ ½ 1 1 3 11 3 IM Aryan Tari (NOR)2520 1 0 1 1 1 4 2442 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3½ 7½ 4 
GM Nils Grandelius (SWE)2623 0 1 1 2 1 5 2623 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1½ 6½ 5 
GM Curt Hansen (DEN)2621 0 0 1 0 2 3 2621 0 0 0 1 ½ 1½ 4½ 6 GM Simen Agdestein (NOR)2620 0 0 1 1 0 2 2575 0 0 0 1 ½ 1½ 3½
Blitz tournament
Blitz tournament was played on June 15, 2015, to decide the pairings for the classical tournament. It was won by French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.[4]
3rd Norway Chess Blitz, 15 June 2015, Stavanger, Norway[5] Player Blitz rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points Black Wins Black wins 1 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)2826 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 6½ 2 
Hikaru Nakamura (USA)2883 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 6 3 
Viswanathan Anand (IND)2767 ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 5½ 5 4 3 4 Magnus Carlsen (NOR)2933 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 5½ 5 4 2 5 
Anish Giri (NED)2771 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 4 6 
Levon Aronian (ARM)2816 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 5 7 
Alexander Grischuk (RUS)2839 ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 4 8 
Veselin Topalov (BUL)2641 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 3 9 
Fabiano Caruana (ITA)2679 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 2½ 10 Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)2648 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 1 1½
Classical tournament
3rd Norway Chess, 16–25 June 2015, Stavanger, Norway, Category XXII (2782)[6] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points Wins H2H SB TPR Tour points 1 Veselin Topalov (BUL)2798 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 6½ 2946 13 2 Viswanathan Anand (IND)2804 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 6 3 ½ 24.75 2904 10 3 Hikaru Nakamura (USA)2802 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6 3 ½ 24.50 2904 8 4 Anish Giri (NED)2773 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½ 2862 7 5 Fabiano Caruana (ITA)2805 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 4 1 ½ 17.75 2736 6 6 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)2723 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4 1 ½ 15.75 2745 5 7 Magnus Carlsen (NOR)2876 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 3½ 2 2691 4 8 Alexander Grischuk (RUS)2781 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 3½ 1 2702 3 9 Levon Aronian (ARM)2780 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 3 1 ½ 13.00 2657 2 10 Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)2677 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 3 1 ½ 11.75 2668 WC (1)
Sinquefield Cup
3rd Sinquefield Cup, 22 August – 3 September 2015, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, Category XXII (2794.6)[7] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points Wins H2H SB TPR Tour Points 1 Levon Aronian (ARM)2765 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 6 2923 13 2 Magnus Carlsen (NOR)2853 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 5 3 ½ 21.25 2831 10 3 Hikaru Nakamura (USA)2814 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 5 3 ½ 20.25 2835 8 4 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)2731 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 5 2 2845 7 5 Anish Giri (NED)2793 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 5 1 2838 6 6 Alexander Grischuk (RUS)2771 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 4½ 3 2797 5 7 Veselin Topalov (BUL)2816 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 4½ 2 2792 4 8 Fabiano Caruana (USA)2808 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 3½ 1 2713 3 9 Viswanathan Anand (IND)2816 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 3½ 0 2712 2 10 Wesley So (USA)2779 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 3 2671 WC (1)
London Chess Classic
7th London Chess Classic, 3–14 December 2015, London, England, Category XXII (2784)[8] Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points Wins H2H SB TPR Tour Points 1 Magnus Carlsen (NOR)2834 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½ 2 1 24.00 2859 12 2 Anish Giri (NED)2784 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5½ 2 1 23.00 2864 10 3 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)2773 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 2 1 22.75 2865 8 4 Levon Aronian (ARM)2788 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5 2827 7 5 Alexander Grischuk (RUS)2747 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4½ 1 2788 6 6 Fabiano Caruana (USA)2787 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 4½ 0 ½ 20.25 2784 4.5 7 
Michael Adams (ENG)2737 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 4½ 0 ½ 20.25 2789 WC (4.5) 8 Hikaru Nakamura (USA)2793 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4 2740 3 9 Viswanathan Anand (IND)2796 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 3½ 2703 2 10 Veselin Topalov (BUL)2803 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 2½ 2616 1
First place play-off
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||||
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
| 1½ | |||||||
| 2 | Anish Giri (Netherlands)
| 1 | 3 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
| ½ | ||||
| 3 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
| 2 | |||||||
Standings
Player Norway[9] Sinquefield London Total points Prize money 1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)4 10 12 26 $215,000 2 Anish Giri (Netherlands)7 6 10 23 $155,000 3 Levon Aronian (Armenia)2 13 7 22 $145,000 4 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)5 7 8 20 $90,000 5 Hikaru Nakamura (United States)8 8 3 19 $95,000 6 Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)13 4 1 18 $105,000 T-7 Alexander Grischuk (Russia)3 5 6 14 $60,000 T-7 Viswanathan Anand (India)10 2 2 14 $80,000 9 Fabiano Caruana (United States)[a]6 3 4.5 13.5 $55,000 Michael Adams (England)N/a N/a 4.5 4.5 $20,000 Jon Ludvig Hammer (Norway)1 N/a N/a 1 $15,000 Wesley So (United States)N/a 1 N/a 1 $15,000