PRESS RELEASE:
Final of historic Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour launched with pledge to support Kiva’s COVID-19 fund
- Host chess24 joins forces with non-profit Kiva
- Tournament supports Kiva’s $50m COVID fund
- 4 of the best online players go head-to-head
- Event is climax of $1m Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour
The world’s most prestigious online chess tournament, the $1 million Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, for the climax of this historic event, tournament host chess24 is proud to extend its support for Kiva, the nonprofit with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities, so chess fans can help people and businesses hit by the crisis get back on their feet.
Broadcaster chess24 has pledged 50 per cent of new Premium memberships bought during its Tour Final to Kiva’s Global COVID-19 Response fund that aims to raise at least $50 million for entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by COVID‑19.
Sebastian Kuhnert, chess24’s CEO, said: “We are going full circle here by using our event, that came about as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, to help the recovery from it.
“With the help of Kiva, which does incredible work around the world, we hope our contribution and the contribution of our members can help as many people as possible.
“Kiva is a non-profit organisation that lends money to people and businesses in need. It has an ambitious goal of raising $50 million and we are honoured to support it.”
Henrique Saboia, VP of Growth at Kiva, said: “Chess is one of those universal sports that our lenders and borrowers across the world enjoy.
“We’re eagerly anticipating the Tour Grand Final ourselves, and even more excited to see how chess fans the world over will support small businesses to overcome the impact of COVID-19. Good luck to all the competitors!”
During the event, chess24 and Kiva will highlight stories where chess has changed people’s lives under the official tournament social media hashtag #ImpactChess.
Viewers are encouraged to engage with the Tour Final and support small businesses impacted by COVID-19 by signing up for a premium subscription here.
More details on the Finals
The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was devised by Norway’s World Champion and chess24 after traditional over the board chess was halted suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tour Final kicks off on August 9 and runs until August 20. It is the culmination of four elite-level super-tournaments that began in March as a way of getting chess started again while other sports worldwide were prohibited.
The first four stages of the first Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour were:
- The Magnus Carlsen Invitational
- The Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge
- The Chessable Masters
- The chess24 Legends of Chess
Four players have qualified for the final crescendo of chess after being the best performers during the preceding tour events.
They are:
- World Champion Magnus Carlsen;
- World Blitz Champion Hikaru Nakamura;
- Former World Rapid Champion Daniil Dubov;
- China’s number 1 Ding Liren.
The winner of the Tour Final, which has a total prize pot of $300,000, will scoop a top prize of $XX,000 and the title of Champion of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour.
A stellar roster of commentators and special guests is lined up for the coverage which will be broadcast in 10 languages by chess24.com.
Tournament rules and schedule
The Tour Final will be a 12-day event running __from August 9 to August 20.__Time control will be a rapid 15m + 10s from move 1 played in the chess24 Playzone.
The semi-finals of the Tour Final tournament will be a best of 5 four-game mini-matches. The final will be a best of 7 mini-matches. As usual, play will start at 16:00 CEST.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Leon Watson
leon@chessable.com
+447786 078770