The Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2023 was a fast chess tournament circuit that was organized in 2023 by Chess.com. The tour started on 6 February 2023 and ended on 16 December 2023. It involved six online chess tournaments and an over-the-board final round, featuring some of the world's top players who played for a prize money pool of US$2 million.
Organisation and format With Chess.com's purchase of Play Magnus Group, the 2023 Champions Chess Tour took its format components from previous seasons of the Champions Chess Tour and Chess.com tournaments, such as the Chess.com World Championship. Some of these enhancements to the contest included open qualifications and a division structure to accommodate more players. There are also several inventive format tweaks that were created to increase excitement and make every match matter.
The new concept included six tournaments over the course of an entire online chess season, beginning with the Airthings Masters and continuing with playoffs and a knockout final. The qualifying tournaments of the Champions Chess Tour 2023 were open to all top 500 players in the rapid chess ranking. The tournaments consisted of six $235,000 tournaments. The top ten finishers in the overall standings got a share of $100,000 prize money. The top finishers on the leaderboard filled the remaining seats in the $500,000 end-of-year finals in December, leaving the event champions with a golden ticket, with eight players playing the semi-final and four playing the final in December 2023.
All titled players were allowed to compete in the qualifying rounds, with the exception of grandmasters, who were automatically entered into the play-in rounds. There were nine rounds of a Swiss-system tournament during qualifiers. The time limit was 10 minutes plus 2 seconds. The top three competitors in each competition had the chance to take part in the forthcoming Play-In.
Tour points and prize money Regular The total prize pool for a Regular tournament is $235,000 for each tournament was distributed as follows:
Points Finish Division I Division II Division III1st15050202nd10030153rd7520104th501585th (x2)301067th (x2)20859th (x4) -6413th (x4) -5317th (x8) - -225th (x8) - -1
Prize Money Finish Division I Division II Division III1st$30,000$10,000$5,0002nd$20,000$7,500$3,6003rd$15,000$6,000$2,8004th$12,500$5,000$2,4005th (x2)$10,000$4,500$2,0007th (x2)$7,500$4,000$1,8009th (x4) -$3,500$1,60013th (x4) -$3,000$1,40017th (x8) - -$1,20025th (x8) - -$1,000Total$112,500$71,500$51,000 Playoffs and Finals The Playoffs and Finals have a $500,000 purse. Placing Prize1st$200,0002nd$100,0003rd (x2)$50,0005th$25,0006th$20,0007th$15,0008th$12,000Per Playoff match win$1,000
Leaderboard prizes After the end of the sixth event, players also earn their share of the $100,000 prize fund according to their CCT Tour Point standings. Placing Prize1st$25,0002nd$20,0003rd$16,0004th$12,0005th$9,0006th$7,0007th$5,0008th$3,0009th$2,00010th$1,000
Tournament schedule and results +Champions Chess Tour tournamentsTournamentDatesPrizeDivision IWinner of Division IIWinner of Division IIIWinnerSecond(or finalist)ThirdFourthAirthings MastersFebruary 6–10$235,000 Magnus Carlsen Hikaru Nakamura Wesley So Arjun Erigaisi Fabiano Caruana Samuel SevianChessable MastersApril 3–7 Hikaru Nakamura Fabiano Caruana Magnus Carlsen Levon Aronian Nodirbek Abdusattorov Amin TabatabaeiChessKid CupMay 22–26 Nodirbek Abdusattorov Fabiano Caruana Jorden Van Foreest Jules Moussard Vladimir Fedoseev Alan PichotAlan Pichot was still representing Argentina at the time of the tournamentAimchess RapidJuly 10–14 Magnus Carlsen Wesley So Nodirbek Abdusattorov Eduardo Iturrizaga Denis Lazavik Yu YangyiJulius Baer Generation CupAugust 30 – September 3 Magnus Carlsen Alireza Firouzja Denis Lazavik Nodirbek Abdusattorov Ian Nepomniachtchi Samuel SevianAI CupSeptember 25–29 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Magnus Carlsen Ian Nepomniachtchi Anish Giri Vladimir Fedoseev Samuel SevianFinalDecember 15–22$500,000 Magnus Carlsen Wesley So
Standings Prize money is shown in US dollars. Bold number denotes a win in that division. Legend Did not qualify/participate Division I Division II Division III PosNameAirthingsMastersChessableMastersChessKidCupAimchessRapidJuliusBaerGenerationCupAICupTotalPointsPrizeMoney1 Magnus Carlsen15075150150100625$125,0002 Fabiano Caruana50100100303015325$75,000 Nodirbek Abdusattorov501507550325$67,5004 Hikaru Nakamura1001502020290$65,0005 Wesley So753010030235$55,0006 Alireza Firouzja203010030180$47,500 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave30150180$37,5008 Denis Lazavik101010507520175$44,3009 Vladimir Fedoseev205020850148$39,00010 Ian Nepomniachtchi65075131$28,50011 Levon Aronian503030110$30,00012 Samuel Sevian203530202098$25,70013 Jorden van Foreest752095$22,50014 Vladislav Artemiev30203080$23,500 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov530153080$22,90016 Anish Giri2055075$20,30017 Yu Yangyi301542069$19,10018 Alexey Sarana3015561066$24,60019 Eduardo Iturrizaga 4150560$18,10020 Arjun Erigaisi50656$16,00021 Amin Tabatabaei320102053$18,40022 Jules Moussard5050$12,50023 Rauf Mamedov20661547$16,60024 Dmitry Andreikin615651042$16,80025 Lê Quang Liêm12081039$15,300 Lê Tuấn Minh458156139$15,20027 Pavel Eljanov6220634$15,70028 Alan Pichot51204131$11,600 Gukesh D30131$11,000 Jose Martinez5220431$10,60031 Vladimir Kramnik101043330$13,400 Gata Kamsky6610830$10,900 Nodirbek Yakubboev201030$10,500 Dmitrij Kollars3030$10,00035 Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn52025$7,80036 Yuriy Kuzubov42024$7,60037 Aram Hakobyan2151523$10,200 R Praggnanandhaa15823$7,60039 Alexey Dreev665522$11,500 Matthias Blübaum8831222$10,000 Aleksandr Shimanov22022$8,70042 Evgeny Alekseev1101021$8,30043 Georg Meier5622520$10,700 Raunak Sadhwani551020$10,500 Grigoriy Oparin461020$9,600 Olexandr Bortnyk101020$5,60047 Vincent Keymer182819$10,20048 Martyn Kravtsiv635317$9,30049 Leinier Domínguez8816$6,40050 David Paravyan418215$7,800 Alexandr Predke1515$5,000 Amin Bassem1515$5,000 Pentala Harikrishna1515$3,60054 Maksim Chigaev525214$8,400 Daniil Dubov8614$7,500 Shamsiddin Vokhidov1102114$6,00057 Parham Maghsoodloo 561113$7,30058 Ivan Šarić6612$7,000 Benjámin Gledura232512$6,800 David Antón Guijarro46212$6,300 Jeffery Xiong8412$5,60062 Mikhail Antipov24511$5,800 Laurent Fressinet5611$5,300 Vasif Durarbayli 23611$4,60065 Andrey Esipenko8210$5,20066 Vitaliy Bernadskiy819$3,400 Benjamin Bok 369$3,40068 Vugar Rasulov2518$5,200 Salem Saleh628$4,700 Samvel Ter-Sahakyan628$4,700 Nikolas Theodorou448$3,200 Aleksandr Lenderman88$2,400 Ray Robson88$2,40074 Igor Kovalenko1517$5,000 Kirill Alekseenko167$4,500 Aydin Suleymanli167$4,500 Diego Flores527$4,200 Francisco Vallejo Pons347$3,000 Levan Pantsulaia257$3,00080 Eltaj Safarli 156$4,000 Maxim Matlakov3126$3,600 Rudik Makarian2316$3,600 Robby Kevlishvili66$3,500 Hans Niemann66$3,500 Jan-Krzysztof Duda66$3,500 Alexander Grischuk246$2,800 Pranav V66$2,000 Wei Yi66$2,000 David Navara66$2,000 Anton Demchenko66$2,00091 Gadir Guseinov 2125$3,400 Bogdan-Daniel Deac55$3,000 Diptayan Ghosh55$3,000 Bharath Subramaniyam55$3,000 Mamikon Gharibyan55$3,000 Nihal Sarin55$3,000 Mahammad Muradli 235$2,600 Alvar Alonso Rosell415$2,600 Alexander Donchenko55$1,800 Evgeny Tomashevsky55$1,800101 Vaibhav Suri224$2,400 Mikhail Demidov44$1,600 Igor Lysyj44$1,600 Pavel Smirnov44$1,600 Etienne Bacrot44$1,600 Pablo Salinas Herrera44$1,600 Teimour Radjabov44$1,600 Vladislav Kovalev44$1,600109 P. Iniyan213$2,200 Sanan Sjugirov123$2,200 Aryan Tari 123$2,200 Vladimir Malakhov123$2,200 Mustafa Yılmaz213$2,200 Shant Sargsyan213$2,200 Christopher Yoo33$1,400 Peter Svidler33$1,400 Alexandr Fier33$1,400 Harshit Raja33$1,400 Miguel Santos Ruiz33$1,400 Federico Perez Ponsa33$1,400 Timur Gareyev33$1,400 Constantin Lupulescu33$1,400 Jaime Santos Latasa33$1,400 Thomas Beerdsen33$1,400125 Arseniy Nesterov22$1,200 Peter Michalik22$1,200 Rasmus Svane22$1,200 Axel Bachmann22$1,200 Harshvardhan GB22$1,200 Renato Terry22$1,200 Hovhannes Gabuzyan22$1,200 Krikor Mekhitarian22$1,200 Read Samadov22$1,200 Aradhya Garg22$1,200 Aleksandr Rakhmanov22$1,200136 Rodrigo Vásquez Schroeder11$1,000 Sergey Drygalov11$1,000 Xu Xiangyu11$1,000 Dmitry Frolyanov11$1,000 Klementy Sychev11$1,000 Sergei Lobanov11$1,000 Abdulla Gadimbayli11$1,000 Andrew Tang11$1,000 Krishnan Sasikiran11$1,000 Srinath Narayanan11$1,000 Abhimanyu Mishra11$1,000 Bardiya Daneshvar11$1,000 Nikita Meshkovs11$1,000 Velimir Ivic11$1,000 Vugar Asadli11$1,000 Ori Kobo11$1,000
Tournaments details
Airthings Masters This initial tournament started on 6 February and ended on 10 February. Both a Play-in stage that is open to all grandmasters and a Knockout stage with three categories are available at the Airthings Masters. The prize pools for each category are distinct, and players can gain Tour Points according on the division they competed in and their finish. The players who have earned the most Tour Points by the tour's sixth event qualify for the CCT Playoff. Magnus Carlsen won the tournament after defeating Hikaru Nakamura in Division I finals. Fabiano Caruana won Division II after defeating Yu Yangyi.
Division I Play-off
Chessable Masters Division I Play-off
ChessKid Cup Division I Play-off
Aimchess Rapid Division I Play-off
Julius Baer Generation Cup Division I Play-off
AI Cup Division I Play-off
Tour Finals Top 8 in the Tour standings are invited to the Tour Finals, played live over-the-board in Toronto, Canada. Round-robin stage Every player played two-game matches against each of other players with a time control of 15+3. If a match is tied, an armageddon game is played to decide the winner of the match, using bidding system to decide playing time and color (base time of 15 minutes). First and second place directly qualified to semifinals, third to sixth place advanced to the survival stage, while the last two places are eliminated. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Champion Chess Tour Finals, round-robin stage, 10 – 13 December 2023, Toronto, Canada ! !! Player !! Rating ! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 ! !! |- | 1 || align=left| || 2737 | || ½ ½ 1 || ½ ½ 0 || ½ ½ ½* || 0 1 ½* || 1 ½ || ½ ½ 1 || 1 ½ || 6 || 1 |- | 2 || align=left| || 2818 | ½ ½ 0 || || ½ 1 || ½ ½ 1 || 1 ½ || ½ ½ 1 || 0 1 1 || 1 ½ || 6 || 0 |- | 3 || align=left| || 2762 | ½ ½ 1 || ½ 0 || || 0 0 || 1 0 1 || ½ ½ 1 || 0 1 ½* || 1 ½ || 5 |- | 4 || align=left| || 2727 | ½ ½ ½ || ½ ½ 0 || 1 1 || || ½ ½ 1 || 0 1 1 || ½ 0 || ½ ½ 1 || 4 |- | 5 || align=left| || 2767 | 1 0 ½ || 0 ½ || 0 1 0 || ½ ½ 0 || || ½ ½ 1 || 1 ½ || ½ ½ 0 || 2 || 2 |- | 6 || align=left| || 2731 | 0 ½ || ½ ½ 0 || ½ ½ 0 || 1 0 0 || ½ ½ 0 || || 1 1 || 1 1 || 2 || 1 |- | 7 || align=left| || 2737 | ½ ½ 0 || 1 0 0 || 1 0 ½ || ½ 1 || 0 ½ || 0 0 || || ½ ½ ½* || 2 || 0 |- | 8 || align=left| || 2509 | 0 ½ || 0 ½ || 0 ½ || ½ ½ 0 || ½ ½ 1 || 0 0 || ½ ½ ½ || || 1 |} * - Match win by drawing armageddon game with black
Survival stage Third and fourth place from round-robin stage played a match, with the winner advances to semifinals. Fifth and sixth place also played a match, with the winner playing the loser of 3rd vs 4th for the last spot of the semifinals. Each match consisted of two games with armageddon tiebreak.
+ 3rd-4th place match Player 1 2 3 Fabiano Caruana101 4 Nodirbek Abdusattorov010+ 5th-6th place match Player 1 2 5 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave10½ 6 Hikaru Nakamura01½+ 4th-5th place match Player 1 2 4 Nodirbek Abdusattorov½½½ 6 Hikaru Nakamura½½½
Semifinals and finals Four players played a single-elimination bracket to decide the champion. Each match was played as best-of-three sets, with set 1 and 2 consisting of four games, and final set consisting of two games. If a set is drawn, an armageddon game is played.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Semifinal 1 !rowspan=2| !!rowspan=2| Player !!colspan=4| Set 1 !!colspan=4| Set 2 !!colspan=3| Set 3 |- ! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 1 !! 2 !! |-