Garry Kasparov returns to Bucharest for Grand Chess Tour 2025

Bucharest is once again becoming the world chess capital! Garry Kasparov, considered the greatest chess player of all time, returns to Romania to participate in the official opening ceremony of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2025, on May 6, in the Ronda Hall of the Grand Hotel Bucharest. The event is held under the motto "Uniting Minds", celebrating chess not only as a sport of the mind, but also as a symbol of collaboration and universal values.

• An anniversary edition

The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) celebrates 10 years of existence this year, and Romania hosts a central stage of the international circuit for the fifth consecutive year. The Bucharest stage will bring together ten of the world's most valuable chess players, including: Gukesh Dommaraju - reigning world champion; Alireza Firouzja - GCT 2024 winner and world number 3 and Bogdan Deac - the highest ranked Romanian player.

• Major news

Brazil becomes the new host country of the tournament, along with the USA, Poland, Croatia and Romania. The GCT final will take place for the first time in an elimination format, in Săo Paulo, with the top four finishers competing for the additional prize of $350,000. The total value of this year's prize fund is $1.6 million, the largest in the history of the circuit. The classic tournaments will each have $350,000 in prizes, and the rapid & blitz stages will each award $175,000 to the winners. GCT is an international chess circuit, which lines up the best players in the world. The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the greatest "ambassadors" of chess in the world, inspired the creation of the Grand Chess Tour and also contributed to strengthening the partnership between the organizers.