Wall Street Gambit: $5,000 Tickets, Chess Legends, Financial Elite
A new conference during the 2024 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York is set to bridge the world of chess and finance. The event is bound to be a treat for anyone able to afford the $1,000 ticket—or the $5,000 VIP tickets that give you a shot at playing a chess legend!
FIDE has renamed the chess and finance conference, which was initially known as Chess Davos, to the Wall Street Gambit. It takes place on December 29, after the conclusion of the 2024 World Rapid Championship.
The event is a continuation of FIDE's successful first attempt to take chess into financial circles at the FIDE World Corporate Chess Championship, the team event that debuted in New York in June.
GM Emil Sutovsky, FIDE's CEO, said: "This is going to be a unique event in so many ways. Top chess grandmasters will gather at the financial heart of the world, and what fascinates me is the enormous concentration of the sharpest minds and the synergies that will be born," he said, adding, "I'm very much looking forward to an event that has everything it takes to become a landmark, 'I-was-there' kind of gathering."
More than 300 of the world's top players are expected to turn up in New York, according to FIDE, including stars such as GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Wesley So.
Though there is a lot of enthusiasm, there has also been some backlash. World famous YouTuber IM Levy Rozman shared Sutovsky's excitement, but he also noted that the extra days impacts New Year's Eve celebrations for many.
Very excited this is in my city.
— GothamChess (@GothamChess) August 26, 2024
However...
In past years it ended on Dec 30, so players can travel home for the New Year celebration.
This year, participants will likely all need to celebrate 2025 after completing the event in NYC.
What do you think? https://t.co/dOIWvbswx7
Norwegian GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen told NRK that the event will cost him $4,500: "I don't think anyone feels this is a good thing. Everyone reacted negatively, both on social media and among my friends. I know several colleagues who say that attending is no longer an option."
The day-long conference kicks off with a chess tournament for conference participants, followed by keynote speeches from renowned figures in chess and finance.
The highlight of the event is likely the roundtable discussion with Carlsen and GM Viswanathan Anand, together with the world-renowned American economist and GM Kenneth Rogoff, as well as Boaz Weinstein, the American hedge fund manager.
At $5,000, the VIP tickets offer a unique chance at playing blitz games against Carlsen, Anand, and Caruana, in addition to selfie opportunities. The hefty price tag was clearly no issue for the financial elite, and the demand has been so high that only one single VIP ticket remains available at the time of writing. General tickets remain available for $1,000.
The event concludes with a one-hour "networking cocktail hour," giving participants a final chance to mingle with chess stars and financial leaders.
The following day all eyes will be on the World Blitz Championship, where FIDE also introduced major changes in the format, switching to a combined Swiss-and-knockout format.
Tarjei J. Svensen is a Norwegian chess journalist who worked for some of the country's biggest media outlets and appeared on several national TV broadcasts. Between 2015 and 2019, he ran his chess website mattogpatt.no, covering chess news in Norwegian and partly in English.
In 2020, he was hired by Chess24 to cover chess news, eventually moving to Chess.com as a full-time chess journalist in 2023. He is also known for his extensive coverage of chess news on his X/Twitter account.
