New Delhi, May 27 (Agency) India’s top chess players will battle for supremacy in the Indian Chess Tour when the second leg kicks off on June 2. The second leg of the Chess tour will be a four-day rapid chess tournament running from June 2 to 5. The MPL Indian Chess Tour is the first regional expansion of the world-renowned Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. Sixteen of the nation’s strongest players go head-to-head in the event organized by Play Magnus Group and esports giant Mobile Premier League (MPL). A total prize pot of $100,000 is at stake over the four legs and a final along with golden tickets to the elite Tour, where India’s best will get to take on the world’s best. The Tour comprises four online tournaments followed by a final where the winner will be crowned Indian Chess Tour Champion. The winner of each tournament will receive an invitation to the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and an opportunity to play against the world’s best chess players including World Chess Champion and highest rated player of all time, Magnus Carlsen.
They will also qualify for a knockout final with a $10,000 top prize. The top of the bill is new national champion Arjun Erigaisi, the 18-year-old from Telangana, who won the first leg in April. The runner-up was 16-year-old Raunak Sadhwani, while 15-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh, from Chennai, and Surya Ganguly were placed third and fourth. All four are in the line-up for the second leg, which also includes Keralan Nihal Sarin, Murali Karthikeyan, Leon Luke Mendonca and Abhijeet Gupta. Vantika Agrawal and Aradhya Garg have been added as wild card entries. Full line-up: Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh D, Nihal Sari, Raunak Sadhwani, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Murali Karthikeyan, Abhimanyu Puranik, Abhijeet Gupta, Aravindh Chithambaram, Leon Luke Mendonca, Harsha Bharathakoti, Diptayan Ghosh, Visakh NR, Mitrabha Guha, Vantika Agrawal (Wildcard), Aradhya Garg (Wildcard).