Magnus Carlsen and Aryan Tari celebrated Norway’s Constitution Day together on Tuesday, but they’ll be facing off against each other when the Chessable Masters starts on Thursday May 19th at 18:00 CEST (12:00 ET, 21:30 IST). Ding Liren, confirmed as playing the Candidates Tournament in under a month, Anish Giri, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Praggnanandhaa will be among the other favourites for tournament victory.

The 3rd edition of the Chessable Masters kicks off Thursday at 18:00 CEST and you can check out all the pairings below.

The Chessable Masters launches the second mini-cycle of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, with the two finalists, and the two finalists of the next Regular, guaranteed an invite to the 2nd Major of the Tour. That 8-player event is slated to take place in an all-new venue in Miami, Florida this August. 

In the Chessable Masters Round 1 pairings we have Norwegian no. 2 Arjan Tari taking on Norwegian, and of course World, no. 1 Magnus Carlsen. The sporting rivalry didn’t stop them celebrating Norway’s Constitution Day together.

Another Scandinavian star, Swedish no. 1 Nils Grandelius, starts by taking on Anish Giri, who has been battling with a pre-tournament sartorial dilemma.

When the Chessable Masters line-up was announced we wondered if 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa would have finished his exams, but it turns out he hasn’t!

It’s not always easy being a prodigy, as Pragg’s Round 1 opponent Wei Yi knows — the 22-year-old Chinese star is still the youngest player ever to have crossed the 2700 barrier, a feat he managed as a 15-year-old.

The new chess powerhouse of India is the most represented country in the Chessable Masters, with three players, and two of them, Harikrishna and Vidit, start against each other.

Sam Shankland begins his 2022 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour campaign against England’s Gawain Jones, with both players looking to improve on their recent events. Sam had only a short stay in the American Cup, while Gawain struggled in the Charity Cup. Gawain has been warming up with some Banter Blitz!

2020 Spanish Champion David Anton goes into the Chessable Masters back in the 2700 club on the live rating list after winning all four games he's played in this season's Chess Bundesliga. In Round 1 he’s facing the youngest player in the field, 13-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra, who at the age of 12 broke the record as the youngest player ever to become a chess grandmaster. Abhimanyu is playing the Chessable Masters for the 2nd time, which is appropriate, seeing as the youngster credited Chessable as enabling him to quickly assimilate the opening knowledge he needed to gain the title. 

The Chessable Masters will be notable for featuring Ding Liren for the 1st time since the Chinese no. 1 played 28 classical games in a month to become eligible to play in the Candidates Tournament that starts in Madrid in under one month’s time. His place was all but confirmed when Sergey Karjakin’s appeal against his 6-month ban from chess was rejected by FIDE. The World Chess Federation is now including Ding Liren, rather than a question mark, in their graphics.

Things might still change if the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Zurich examines Karjakin’s appeal in time, but for now it’s Ding Liren who starts with White against Ian Nepomniachtchi in Madrid (check out the full pairings).  

First, however, Ding starts against Jorden van Foreest in the Chessable Masters. The Dutch no. 2 had a disappointing result recently in the Sigeman & Co. Tournament in Sweden, but he’s always dangerous — as beating both Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri in the Oslo Esports Cup showed!

The final pairing is Hansen-Mamedyarov, where Azerbaijan no. 1 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov will be hoping to bounce back from both a tough event in Bucharest… and losing to Canada’s Eric Hansen in their mini-match in the Oslo Esports Cup.

Round 1 is just the start, of course, with four rounds on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the final three rounds of the Prelims on Sunday. The field must be cut from 16 players to 8 before the knockout begins!

Don’t miss all the Chessable Masters action here on chess24 from 18:00 CEST on Thursday, May 19th!

See also:

• Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Home
• Carlsen back to defend Meltwater Champions Chess Tour title
• Magnus Carlsen triumphs in Airthings Masters
• Carlsen wins Charity Cup after Duda fightback
• Duda wins Oslo Esports Cup as Carlsen and Pragg collapse
• Carlsen and Ding top Chessable Masters field