New Delhi, Aug 30: Mobile Premier League (MPL) on Monday said it has formed a partnership with Play Magnus Group for hosting MPL Indian Chess Tour in the country.
The new MPL Indian Chess Tour will be held next year by Play Magnus Group (PMG), founded by World Champion Magnus Carlsen, in partnership with e-sports giant MPL, a statement said.
The tour, which carries a USD 100,000 prize pot, will be the official circuit for Indian chess players to qualify for and participate in the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, it added.
“It means India will be the only chess nation with its own regional expansion that can guarantee players on the elite tour, which this year carried a dazzling total prize pot of USD 1.6 million,” the statement noted.
Seven Indian players have participated in the 2021 season of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, including Indian women’s champion and number one rated female rapid player Humpy Koneru, Grandmasters Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna and Baskaran Adhiban, as well as under-18 prodigies Praggnanandha, Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi.
“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,” Andreas Thome, CEO of Play Magnus Group, said.
Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO of MPL, said MPL’s objective is to grow the e-sports industry by making it more accessible and inclusive.
“This partnership with Play Magnus Group furthers our commitment by bringing one of the world’s biggest chess initiatives to India and taking it to the masses. We have a lot of talented players in the country and the MPL Indian Chess Tour will help provide them with a stage to showcase their skills and also give them an opportunity to compete at an international level,” he added.
India is undergoing a chess boom, with 49 of the country’s 69 Grandmasters earning their titles since 2010.
Indian players also make up 25 per cent of the player field at the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, a series of online tournaments launched by PMG along with Chess legends Judit Polgar and Vladimir Kramnik, that spotlights emerging talent and promotes gender equality in Chess, the statement said.
They have won two of three tournaments so far, earning them invitations to the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, it added.
The MPL Indian Chess Tour will comprise four online tournaments followed by a Final where the winner will be crowned MPL Indian Chess Tour Champion 2022. The matches will be streamed on chess24, chess24india and MPL’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
MPL will conduct four qualifiers on its platform where each winner will receive entry to each tournament and compete against top Indian GMs in the MPL Indian Chess Tour, the statement said.
The winner of each tournament will receive an invitation to the multi-million dollar Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and an opportunity to play against the world’s best chess players including World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen, it added.
“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,” Sunil Kamath, Regional Vice President (Aasia Pacific) at Play Magnus Group, said.
Play Magnus Group offers e-learning and entertainment services via its brands – chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, CoChess, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. It is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG. (PTI)
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