The first moves were made symbolically by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who was assisted by the most influential chess player in the history of chess, Garry Kasparov, and the world's No. 1, Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
Rapid & Blitz SuperUnited Croatia Grand Chess Tour will be held from 4 to 9 July, with the prize fund amounting to US$ 175,000.
Nine grandmasters will be competing at the tournament, taking place at Zagreb's Westin Hotel, including as many as six of the world's top ten players - No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, fifth-ranked Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, third-ranked Fabiano Caruana of the USA, sixth-ranked Alireza Firouzja, a 19-year-old Iranian-born grandmaster who now plays for France, ninth-ranked Viswanathan Anand of India, No.10 Richard Rapport of Romania, No. 13 Dommaraju Gukesh of India, as well as Pole Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who ranks 20th, and Romanian grandmaster Constantin Lupulescu.
Croatia's colours will be defended by the country's best chess player, Ivan Šarić.