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Fall Chess Classic 2022 Preview

by Himank Ghosh - 02/11/2022

The 2022 Fall Chess Classic is the third installment of the Chess Classics featuring international chess professionals. The Fall Chess Classic is comprised of two, 10-player Round Robin tournaments. Over the course of 2nd November -10th November, these competitors will battle for more than $36,000 in prize money and gain valuable experience in top-level events. The tournament will be held in the St. Louis Chess Club, and will be broadcasted live in their YouTube Channel. A total of 3 Indian players take part in this event! Live broadcast begins from 2:30 AM IST. Photo: Official Website.

3 Indians start in the Fall Classic

The Official banner of the Fall Chess Classic 2022. Photo: Official website.

Grandmasters Vidit Gujrathi, Raunak Sadhwani, and Surya Sekhar Ganguly will take part in the 10-player Closed round-robin event, the Fall Chess Classic 2022. There are 2 groups - Vidit and Surya will play in the A group, while Raunak will participate in the B group of the event.

A light moment between the Indian stars during the players meeting | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi (2724)

Photo: Austin Fuller

After a bit of a rough patch during 2022, Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi is back to his best shape in the last few months! After a respectable 3rd place finish in the very strong Shusha Chess Rapid and Blitz, Vidit had an amazing run in the European Club Cup 2022, winning the Gold medal for his team Novy Bor Chess Club, and scoring an amazing 6/7 to bag the individual Silver medal. The Fall Classic marks his first appearance at a major event here at the Saint Louis Chess Club! A good score in this event and the upcoming World Teams Championship may very well propel the GM from Nashik to cross the 2750 barrier.

Grandmaster Surya Sekhar Ganguly (2589)

Photo: Austin Fuller

West Bengal's second Grandmaster and long-time second of the 5-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly comes into St. Louis on the heels of success. He has just won the 20th Bangkok Chess Club Cup with an impressive 7.5/9! A chess player with loads of achievements in and outside the country, Surya returns to St. Louis after a long time. He will be competing in group A, where he is actually the last seed! But you can never discount Surya - he will put up a strong fight even in a highly competitive field.

Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani (2628)

Photo: Austin Fuller

One of the brightest young stars of the country and a student of the WestBridge - Anand Chess Academy (WACA), Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani is the top seed of the B section of the Fall Chess Classic 2022. For the majority of the year, Raunak has been performing consistently on a very high level - he showcased a stellar performance for the country in the Chennai Chess Olympiad 2022, defeating 2 2700+ Grandmasters. It will be very interesting to see how the youngster fares in this round-robin event!

The players list

Chinese Grandmaster Yu Yangyi is the top seed of Group A, and GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi is the 2nd seed. GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly is the last seed in the group.

Group A players list. | Photo: Official website

In the B group, Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani is the top seed among the 10 players. He is the sole Indian player in the group.

Group B players list. | Photo: Official website

Schedule and Venue

The fall chess classic will take place from 2nd-10th November 2022, at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The event will be broadcasted live from the venue on YouTube and Twitch with Official commentary.

The playing hall where the games would take place. Photo: Crystal Fuller

The playing dates and timings are the same for Group A and B. There are no rest days in the event - 10 straight days of chess.

The final round begins 2 hours early than usual. Photo: Official Website

Time Control and tiebreaks

The rate of play shall be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds (increment) per move starting from move one. If two or more Players are tied for first, a playoff will be held to determine final standings among all tied players. All other tied places will divide prize money evenly. Playoff games will start no earlier than 30 minutes after the final game of Round 9.

A birds eye shot of the playing hall - the arbiters explain the regulations to the players. Photo: Crystal Fuller

For more details, please refer to the tournament regulations.

2022 Fall Chess Classic: Round 1 | lichess.org - Saint Louis Chess Club live broadcast, starts from 3rd November 2:30 AM IST

Round 1 pairings

Group A round 1 pairings. Photo: Official website 

It's an all-Indian battle between Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Vidit Gujrathi in the get-go! Photo: Crystal Fuller

Group B round 1 pairings. Photo: Official website

Raunak Sadhwani faces Armenian GM Arman Mikaelyan in group B. Photo: Crystal Fuller

Important Links

Official Website

Group A pairings and results

Group B pairings and results

Saint Louis Chess Club Flickr albums


Related news:
Vidit Gujrathi and Raunak Sadhwani finish 2nd in the Fall Chess Classic

@ 13/11/2022 by Himank Ghosh (en)
Fall Chess Classic R1-5: Vidit and Raunak in lead

@ 07/11/2022 by Himank Ghosh (en)

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