General Information

General information

The 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss Tournament and Women’s Grand Swiss will be held from the 25th of October to the 8th of November at the Hanzas Perons Cultural Centre in Riga, Latvia.

This is the first time that a Women’s Grand Swiss event will be held as well.

Both tournaments are part of the qualifications for the 2021-23 World Championship cycle, with the top two players in the open event qualifying for the 2022 Candidates Tournament and the following six securing spots in the Grand Prix. The winner of the Women’s Grand Swiss will qualify directly for the Women Candidates and four best players will qualify for the next year’s Women’s Grand Prix.

Eleven rounds will be played under the Swiss System, with 164 players participating from all continents: 114 in the Grand Swiss and 50 players in the Women’s Grand Swiss.

The average rating of the players in the Grand Swiss is 2647, making this the strongest Swiss-system chess tournament in the world.

The total prize fund is $550,000, with $425,000 for the Grand Swiss and $125,000 for the inaugural Women’s Grand Swiss.

The first Grand Swiss was held in 2019 in the Isle of Man and was won by GM Wang Hao, who scored 8/11. Because of COVID-19, the 2020 edition of the event was cancelled. The 2021 edition was initially planned for the Isle of Man but was moved due to COVID-19 regulations in the UK and the Isle of Man which would have required many players to isolate for 10 days.