Bogdan Deac, wildcard for the Bucharest stage of the Grand Chess Tour

Chess lovers have the opportunity to see, once again, in Bucharest, some of the performers of this sport. Bogdan Deac, basic player of the men's Olympic team, received a wildcard to compete in the Bucharest stage of the Grand Chess Tour international chess circuit - the 2024 edition, which will debut on June 25. Bogdan Deac, one of the most valuable Romanian chess players, according to the current world ranking, has been playing chess since the age of seven, and at the age of 14 he was selected for the first time in the national chess team of Romania. It was also then that he became the youngest international chess grandmaster in the world, being considered one of the youngest players in history to have done so. Deac is the winner of numerous national and international chess competitions, including the recent Reykjavik Open tournament (March 2024). Currently, the Romanian player has a FIDE rating of 2,692 points and occupies the 42nd place in the world ranking. For the stage in Warsaw (Poland), the first within the GCT circuit, which took place between May 5-13, 2024, and Kirill Shevchenko (57th place in the world) received a wildcard to compete under the Romanian flag. "We gathered the best players in the world, and this year the Grand Chess Tour represents a showcase of the experience accumulated by the most famous Grand Masters and, at the same time, will open new stages for talented young people. We are very proud of the way this year's edition is shaping up", said Michael Khodarkovsky, Executive Director of the tournament.

The prizes of the entire circuit reach 1.5 million dollars, of which 350,000 dollars for the classical chess stage and 175,000 dollars for each stage of rapid & blitz chess. At the same time, this year's edition will also have a bonus prize fund, worth 275,000 dollars, which will be awarded to the top finishers at the end of the entire tournament. GCT is an international chess circuit, which brings together the best players in the world.