Romanian chess player receives wildcard in Bucharest stage of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour

Bogdan Deac, a key player on Romania’s men's Olympic team, received a wildcard to compete in the Bucharest stage of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour, which will start on June 25.

Deac, 22, one of the most valuable Romanian chess players according to the current world ranking, will be participating for the fourth time in the Bucharest stage.

The Romanian has been playing chess since the age of 7, and at 14 he was selected for the Romanian national chess team. At the same time, he also became the youngest International Grandmaster in the world, considered one of the youngest players in history to achieve this.

Deac is the winner of numerous national and international chess competitions, including the recent Reykjavik Open (March 2024). Currently, he has a FIDE rating of 2692 points and ranks 42nd in the world ranking.

For the Warsaw stage (Poland), the first in the GCT circuit, which took place from May 5-13, 2024, Kirill Shevchenko (world rank 57) also received a wildcard to compete under the Romanian flag.

"We have gathered the best players in the world, and the Grand Chess Tour represents, this year, a showcase of the experience accumulated by the most renowned Grandmasters, while also opening new stages for talented young players. We are very proud of how this year's edition is shaping up," said Michael Khodarkovsky, Executive Director of the Grand Chess Tour tournament.

Aside from Bogdan Deac, wildcards for the next four stages of the 2024 GCT tournament were also given to Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Vidit Gujrathi (India), Ivan Saric (Croatia), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Levon Aronian (USA), Leinier Dominguez (USA), and Ding Liren (China).

The Bucharest competition will be open to the public. Fans of this sport can reserve tickets to watch the games of the 10 Grandmasters directly in the competition hall. Tickets are already on sale and are limited, and all funds raised from ticket purchases will be donated to the REKARO program for the revival of Romanian kayaking.

The prizes for the entire circuit amount to USD 1.5 million, of which USD 350,000 are for the classic chess stage and USD 175,000 for each rapid & blitz chess stage. Additionally, this year's edition will have a bonus prize fund of USD 275,000 dollars, which will be awarded to the top-ranked players at the end of the entire tournament.

(Photo source: Superbet Chess Classic)