Corporate chess champs gifted with wine chess set

The winners of the FIDE Online World Corporate Chess Championship ­– the Grenke Bank team – have been gifted a bespoke wine and chess set from Chateau La Grace Dieu des Prieurs in Bordeaux.

The tournament brought together 1,500 chess players representing 288 companies from 78 countries across the leading sectors of the global economy, including energy, banking, tech, e-commerce and electronics.

Among the companies taking part were: Amazon, Samsung, Ford, Microsoft, Facebook, Siemens, Dell, Airbus, IBM, Boeing, Sony, Twitter, Goldman Sachs Morgan Stanley, Vodafone, American Express, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Credit Suisse and Airbnb, who fought for the title of the world’s best corporate chess team.

Among the high profile chess stars playing in the tournament were grand masters Magnus Carlsen (Kindred Group), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Sber), Vladislav Artemiev (Aeroflot), and Anish Giri (Optiver).

Taking place online from 19-21 February, scooping first place in the competition were the Germany-based Grenke Bank team, who were awarded a bespoke wine and chess set from Saint-Emilion grand cru estate Chateau La Grace Dieu des Prieurs.

Hailing from the château’s Art Russe collection, the prize included six bottles of 2014 Bordeaux boasting 19^th and 20^th century works by Russian artists.

The top of the wooden gift box doubles as a red and cream chequered chess board with red and yellow pieces. The idea for the prize was devised by estate owner and president of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov, who works as a chess coach and trainer.

All artworks reproduced on the Chateau La Grace Dieu des Prieurs labels are part of the collection of the Art Russe Foundation. Chess is enjoying a surge in interest at the moment following the release of the popular Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, starring Anya Taylor-Joy.