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.
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." 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: {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! 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. PlayerCountryRating (January 2015)Magnus Carlsen2862Fabiano Caruana2820Alexander Grischuk2810Veselin Topalov2800Viswanathan Anand2797Levon Aronian2797Anish Giri2784Hikaru Nakamura2776Maxime Vachier-Lagrave2757
Schedule and results DatesTournamentHost cityWinnerRunner-upThird placeJune 15–26Norway Chess Stavanger Veselin Topalov Viswanathan Anand Hikaru NakamuraAugust 22–September 3Sinquefield Cup St. Louis Levon Aronian Magnus Carlsen Hikaru NakamuraDecember 4–13London 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.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: center;" |+class=nowrap|EnterCard Chess Qualifier, May 10–15, Oslo, Norway ! rowspan=2| !! rowspan=2| Player !! colspan=8| Classical !! colspan=8| Rapid !! rowspan=2| TotalPoints |- ! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! !Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left| | 2665 || || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 8 | 2578|| || 1 || ½ || ½ || 1 || 1 || 4 || 12 |- | 2 || align=left| | 2712 || 1 || || 2 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 8 | 2707 || 0 || || ½ || ½ || 1 || 1 || 3 || 11 |- | 3 || align=left| | 2520 || 1 || 0 || || 1 || 1 || 1 || 4 | 2442 || ½ || ½ || || ½ || 1 || 1 || 3½ || 7½ |- | 4 || align=left| | 2623 || 0 || 1 || 1 || || 2 || 1 || 5 | 2623 || ½ || ½ || ½ || || 0 || 0 || 1½ || 6½ |- | 5 || align=left| | 2621 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || || 2 || 3 | 2621 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || || ½ || 1½ || 4½ |- | 6 || align=left| | 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.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: center;" |+class=nowrap|3rd Norway Chess Blitz, 15 June 2015, Stavanger, Norway ! !! Player !! Blitz rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! Points !! !! !! |- | 1 || align=left | || 2826 | || 0 || ½ || 1 || ½ || 1 || ½ || 1 || 1 || 1 || 6½ || || || |- | 2 || align=left | || 2883 | 1 || || ½ || 0 || ½ || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 6 || || || |- | 3 || align=left | || 2767 | ½ || ½ || || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || ½ || 1 || 1 || 5½ || 5 || 4 || 3 |- | 4 || align=left | || 2933 | 0 || 1 || 1 || || ½ || ½ || 0 || 1 || ½ || 1 || 5½ || 5 || 4 || 2 |- | 5 || align=left | || 2771 | ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || || 0 || ½ || ½ || 1 || 1 || 5½ || 4 || || |- | 6 || align=left | || 2816 | 0 || 0 || 0 || ½ || 1 || || ½ || 1 || 1 || 1 || 5 || || || |- | 7 || align=left | || 2839 | ½ || 1 || 0 || 1 || ½ || ½ || || 0 || 0 || ½ || 4 || || || |- | 8 || align=left | || 2641 | 0 || 0 || ½ || 0 || ½ || 0 || 1 || || 0 || 1 || 3 || || || |- | 9 || align=left | || 2679 | 0 || 0 || 0 || ½ || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || || 0 || 2½ || || || |- | 10 || align=left | || 2648 | 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || ½ || 0 || 1 || || 1½ || || ||
Classical tournament {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+3rd Norway Chess, 16–25 June 2015, Stavanger, Norway, Category XXII (2782) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! Points !! !! !! SB !! TPR !! Tour points |- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 || align=left | || 2798 | || ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 6½ || || || || 2946 || 13 |- | 2 || align=left | || 2804 | ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || 1 || ½ || ½ || 1 || 6 || 3 || ½ || 24.75 || 2904 || 10 |- | 3 || align=left | || 2802 | ½ || ½ || || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || 1 || 6 || 3 || ½ || 24.50 || 2904 || 8 |- | 4 || align=left | || 2773 | 1 || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || 5½ || || || || 2862 || 7 |- | 5 || align=left | || 2805 | ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || || ½ || 1 || ½ || 0 || ½ || 4 || 1 || ½ || 17.75 || 2736 || 6 |- | 6 || align=left | || 2723 | 0 || 0 || ½ || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || 4 || 1 || ½ || 15.75 || 2745 || 5 |- | 7 || align=left | || 2876 | 0 || 0 || ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || || 1 || 1 || 0 || 3½ || 2 || || || 2691 || 4 |- | 8 || align=left | || 2781 | 0 || ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || ½ || 0 || || ½ || 1 || 3½ || 1 || || || 2702 || 3 |- | 9 || align=left | || 2780 | 0 || ½ || 0 || ½ || 1 || 0 || 0 || ½ || || ½ || 3 || 1 || ½ || 13.00 || 2657 || 2 |- | 10 || align=left | || 2677 | 0 || 0 || 0 || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || 0 || ½ || || 3 || 1 || ½ || 11.75 || 2668 || WC (1)
Sinquefield Cup {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |+ 3rd Sinquefield Cup, 22 August – 3 September 2015, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, Category XXII (2794.6) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! Points !! !! !! SB !! TPR !! Tour Points |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left | || 2765 || || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || 1 || 6 || || || || 2923 || 13 |- | 2 || align=left | || 2853 || ½ || || ½ || 1 || ½ || 0 || 0 || 1 || ½ || 1 || 5 || 3 || ½ || 21.25 || 2831 || 10 |- | 3 || align=left | || 2814 || 0 || ½ || || ½ || ½ || 1 || 0 || ½ || 1 || 1 || 5 || 3 || ½ || 20.25 || 2835 || 8 |- | 4 || align=left | || 2731 || ½ || 0 || ½ || || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || 1 || 5 || 2 || || || 2845 || 7 |- | 5 || align=left | || 2793 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || || 1 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 5 || 1 || || || 2838 || 6 |- | 6 || align=left | || 2771 || ½ || 1 || 0 || ½ || 0 || || ½ || 1 || 1 || 0 || 4½ || 3 || || || 2797 || 5 |- | 7 || align=left | || 2816 || ½ || 1 || 1 || 0 || ½ || ½ || || 0 || ½ || ½ || 4½ || 2 || || || 2792 || 4 |- | 8 || align=left | || 2808 || 0 || 0 || ½ || ½ || ½ || 0 || 1 || || ½ || ½ || 3½ || 1 || || || 2713 || 3 |- | 9 || align=left | || 2816 || ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || ½ || || ½ || 3½ || 0 || || || 2712 || 2 |- | 10 || align=left | || 2779 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || ½ || || 3 || || || || 2671 || WC (1)
London Chess Classic {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ 7th London Chess Classic, 3–14 December 2015, London, England, Category XXII (2784) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! Points !! !! !! SB !! TPR !!Tour Points
|-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left | || 2834 || || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || ½ || 5½ || 2 || 1 || 24.00 || 2859 || 12 |- | 2 || align=left | || 2784 || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || 1 || 5½ || 2 || 1 || 23.00 || 2864 || 10 |- | 3 || align=left | || 2773 || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || 1 || 5½ || 2 || 1 || 22.75 || 2865 || 8 |- | 4 || align=left | || 2788 || ½ || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || 5 || || || || 2827 || 7 |- | 5 || align=left | || 2747 || 0 || ½ || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || 1 || ½ || 4½ || 1 || || || 2788 || 6
| 6 || align=left | || 2787 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 4½ || 0 || ½ || 20.25 || 2784 || 4.5 |- | 7 || align=left | || 2737 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || || ½ || ½ || ½ || 4½ || 0 || ½ || 20.25 || 2789 || WC (4.5) |- | 8 || align=left | || 2793 || 0 || 0 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || || 1 || ½ || 4 || || || || 2740 || 3 |- | 9 || align=left | || 2796 || ½ || ½ || 0 || ½ || 0 || ½ || ½ || 0 || || 1 || 3½ || || || || 2703 || 2 |- | 10 || align=left | || 2803 || ½ || 0 || 0 || 0 || ½ || ½ || ½ || ½ || 0 || || 2½ || || || || 2616 || 1
First place play-off
Standings {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" ! !Player ! Norway ! Sinquefield ! London ! Total points ! Prize money |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left| || 4 || 10 || 12 || 26 || $215,000 |- | 2 || align=left| || 7 || 6 || 10 || 23 || $155,000 |- | 3 || align=left| || 2 || 13 || 7 || 22 || $145,000 |- | 4 || align=left| || 5 || 7 || 8 || 20 || $90,000 |- | 5 || align=left| || 8 || 8 || 3 || 19 || $95,000 |- | 6 || align=left| || 13 || 4 || 1 || 18 || $105,000 |- | T-7 || align=left| || 3 || 5 || 6 || 14 || $60,000 |- | T-7 || align=left| || 10 || 2 || 2 || 14 || $80,000 |- | 9 || align=left| || 6 || 3 || 4.5 || 13.5 || $55,000 |- | || align=left| || || || 4.5 || 4.5 || $20,000 |- | || align=left| || 1 || || || 1 || $15,000 |- | || align=left| || || 1 || || 1 || $15,000
References
Notes