Play Magnus Group (PMG) - Play Magnus Group and Mobile Premier League Forge Exclusive Partnership to Launch MPL Indian Chess Tour 30.8.2021 12:00:00 CEST | Play Magnus AS | Non-regulatory press releases (Oslo, 30 August, 2021) - Today, Play Magnus Group and Mobile Premier League (MPL) announced their strategic partnership to promote the growth of chess in India with the launch of the ‘MPL Indian Chess Tour’. This tour will be the official circuit for more Indian chess players to qualify and participate in the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The new MPL Indian Chess Tour will be held next year by Play Magnus Group (PMG), founded by World Champion Magnus Carlsen, in partnership with esports giant Mobile Premier League (MPL). This tour, which carries a $100,000 prize fund, will be the official circuit for Indian chess players to qualify for and participate in the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour marking the first regional expansion of the Tour. Together with MPL, Play Magnus Group aims to bring the Tour’s innovative online format to India and encourage new growth in the game across the region. Already, an impressive seven Indian players have participated in the 2021 season of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. They included Indian Women's #1 and Women's World Rapid Champion Humpy Koneru, Grandmaster stars Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna and Baskaran Adhiban, as well as under-18 prodigies Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi. Andreas Thome, CEO of Play Magnus Group said, “India is a fast-growing market for chess and the MPL Indian Chess Tour is a fantastic opportunity for young Indian players to shine on both this new national circuit and the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.” Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO of MPL added, “Our objective at MPL is to grow the esports industry by making it more accessible and inclusive. This partnership with Play Magnus Group furthers our commitment by bringing one of the world’s biggest chess initiatives to India and taking it to the masses. We have a lot of talented players in the country and the MPL Indian Chess Tour will help provide them with a stage to showcase their skills and also give them an opportunity to compete at an international level. We look forward to expanding this association in the future to offer unique gaming experiences to all our MPL users.” India is undergoing a chess boom, with 49 of the country’s 69 Grandmasters earning their titles since 2010. Indian players also make up 25% of the player field at the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, a series of online tournaments launched by PMG along with Chess legends Judit Polgar and Vladimir Kramnik, that spotlights emerging talent and promotes gender equality in Chess. Players representing India have won two of three tournaments so far, earning them invitations to the global Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. MPL will conduct four qualifiers on its platform where each winner will receive entry to each tournament and compete against top Indian GMs in the MPL Indian Chess Tour. The tour will comprise four online tournaments followed by a Final where the winner will be crowned MPL Indian Chess Tour Champion 2022. The winner of each tournament will receive an invitation to the multi-million dollar 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. Avadh Shah, Vice President - Esports, MPL said: “The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour has cemented its position as one of the most prestigious chess events in the world and we are excited to partner with Play Magnus Group to bring this to India through the MPL Indian Chess Tour. Chess is one of the top games on MPL and the previous tournaments we have organised have seen lakhs of players compete. We are sure this tour will also be a huge hit among all our gamers and viewers.” Sunil Kamath, Regional Vice President, APAC at Play Magnus Group added: “We are excited to partner with MPL and bring this exciting tour for our immensely talented Indian chess players. India is the first country to have a domestic circuit of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and MPL is our exclusive partner for the same.” The matches will be streamed on www.chess24.com, chess24india and MPL’s YouTube and Facebook channels. For further comments contact: Andreas Thome, CEO Play Magnus Group [email protected] For partnerships, contact Sunil Kamath, Regional VP - APAC Play Magnus Group [email protected] About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, CoChess, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group's mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG. For more information visit pmg.me. About Mobile Premier League (MPL) Mobile Premier League (MPL) is Asia’s biggest esports and skill gaming platform, with over 80 million users across India, Indonesia and United States of America. MPL has worked with numerous game developers and on-boarded over 70 games on its platform. It was founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra. The gaming platform currently employs over 800 personnel across Bengaluru, Pune, Jakarta, Singapore and New York. Disclosure regulation This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Attachments Download announcement as PDF.pdf.