India is the first regional expansion for the successful Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The new MPL Indian Chess Tour will be led in collaboration with the Mobile Premier League by World Champion, Magnus Carlsen. This tour will start in 2022.
This tour will bear a prize pot of $100,000 and will officially be the circuit for Indian chess players to qualify and participate in the Champions Chess Tour. The tour will include the MPL Indian Chess Tour Champion 2022 in four online events and a Finale followed by the crowning of a winner. These matches will be shown on MPL’s YouTube and Facebook, Chess24, and Chess24india.
MPL will lead four qualifications on their platform where every winner will be invited to each tournament and participate in the MPL Indian Chess Tour against the best Indian GMs. This tour includes India’s prominent players such as Humpy Koneru, Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna, Baskaran Adhiban, R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, and Arjun Erigaisi.
The winner of each tourney is invited to the $2 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, as well as to compete with Carlsen, the finest chess player in the world, including the world’s leading chess champion and highly respected player of all time.
Andreas Thome, CEO of Play Magnus Group said, ”India is a fast-growing market for chess and the MPL Indian Chess Tour is a fantastic opportunity for young Indian players to shine on both this new national circuit and the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.”
Avadh Shah, Vice President of Esports, MPL said, “The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour has cemented its position as one of the most prestigious chess events in the world and we are excited to partner with Play Magnus Group to bring this to India through the MPL India Chess Tour. Chess is one of the top games on MPL and the previous tournaments we have organized have seen lakhs of players compete. We are sure this tour will also be a huge hit among all our gamers and viewers.”
“We are excited to partner with MPL and bring this exciting tour for our immensely talented Indian chess players. India is the first country to have a domestic circuit of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and MPL is our exclusive partner for the same,” mentioned Sunil Kamath, regional vice-president, APAC at Play Magnus Group.