The Tour will crown the best chess player in the world over a full competitive online season.

The announcement follows the success of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour 2020 with over 70 million online views shattering records for viewership of chess events.

Reflecting on his namesake tournament Carlsen said: “It has been a dream come true to see the growth of chess and the fans embracing online chess as a thrilling spectator sport.”

“We will continue with the successful online rapid format from the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The biggest change is that next season will be a nearly year-long Tour with tournaments running regularly from November to the Tour Final in September,” announced Arne Horvei, Tournament Director of the Chess Tour 2021.

“Establishing a full year-long season of chess will provide a platform for the players to regularly compete at the highest level, for record prizes, and for fans to follow exciting chess throughout the year,” added the World Champion.

“Hikaru pushed me to the limit in the Tour Final yesterday and I look forward to fighting hard to stay on top in the coming season.”

The top players from the 2020 season will be invited to return, and fans can look forward to seeing new faces competing, with spots being determined through the chess24 Banter Series in September and many more qualifying events throughout the year, alongside a Women’s and a Junior Tour.

The Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour was the first online chess event to be broadcast on TV. It was distributed across Europe and Asia and was covered live on Norway’s biggest commercial channel TV2, Russia’s biggest sports channel MatchTV, the Spanish football league’s LaLiga TV, and DAZN globally.

The next season of the Tour will continue to bring exciting chess entertainment to viewers via TV, streaming services and here on www.chess24.com throughout 2020 and 2021.

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