Chess titans to gather at Lindores Abbey for All-Star tournament

Limited edition Aqua Vitae to be released to mark the occasion

Lindores Abbey Distillery will host a tournament for the titans of chess, and bring the game of kings back to the abbey after 500 years on May 25 and 26. Three players have been confirmed thus far: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, former World Chess Champion Viswanathan 'Vishy' Anand, and three-time Chinese Chess Champion Ding Liren.

To mark this culturally and historically significant event, Lindores Abbey Distillery will be releasing a limited edition version of its Aqua Vitae spirit, Lindores Abbey Thabill. Normally made from an unaged, malt-based spirit, the basis of this edition will be an exquisite 18-month old Lindores spirit which has been maturing in oak casks from Thiron-Gardais in France. The town is home to Tiron Abbey, the mother abbey of the Tironensian order and sister abbey to Lindores along with Kelso and Arbroath.

Only 500 bottles will be produced, making this an extremely rare opportunity to sample the most mature Lindores spirit thus far produced. The bottles will be sold at the tournament, and will cost £150. A proportion of the proceeds from the bottles sold will be donated to STAR, Lindores Abbey Distillery’s chosen charity. The bottles will then be made available to the public online and in the distillery shop. A 10% discount will apply for members of Lindores Abbey Distillery and cask owners.

The three guests so far confirmed for the tournament are recognized as some of the greatest players that the world has ever known. Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and currently the highest rated chess player in the world. He holds the title of World Chess Champion, and became a chess grandmaster at the age of 13. In the course of his brilliant chess career, he has won dozens of the strongest (elite) tournaments and world titles not only in classical chess, but also in rapid chess and blitz. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, many chess experts recognize Magnus Carlsen as a chess genius.

Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former World Chess Champion. He became India’s first grandmaster in 1988, and he was the first Indian chess player to win the world title in 2000. Since then, and till now, he has been one of the top ten (elite) chess players, remaining the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2007 to 2013. This year, Anand will be 50 years old, but he still continues to compete successful with the much younger elite players, fit to be his sons. Anand was the FIDE Rapid Chess World Champion, and is widely recognized as the strongest rapid chess player of his generation, becoming World Rapid Chess Champion in 2003 and 2017.

Ding Liren is a three-time Chinese chess champion (2009, 2011, 2012) and represented China at four Chess Olympiads from 2012 to 2018, winning team gold medals in 2014 and 2018, as well as an individual gold medal in 2018. He also won team gold and individual silver medals on his board at the World Team Championship in 2015. That year, in August, he became the second Chinese chess player to break in to the top ten of the FIDE world ratings. In 2017, he also became the first Chinese chess player to qualify for a Candidate’s Tournament, the penultimate stage in the World Championship.

The tournament will take place over two days and the games will be played in the distillery itself, overlooking the abbey ruins where no fewer than five monarchs once walked. The games will be streamed on screens throughout the visitor center for the public (the game-side seats are by invitation only). Attendees will have the unique opportunity to meet and chat with the grandmasters in an informal atmosphere.

Helen McKenzie Smith, the custodian of the Abbey with her husband Drew, commented: 'It is an absolute honor for Lindores to host these grandmasters. We are thrilled to be welcoming some of the greatest chess players that the world has ever known to the abbey and the distillery, and to be bringing the game of kings back to the ancient abbey after a hiatus of more than 500 years. The monks who lived and worked here were recorded as being great chess players, so we feel this tournament is a fitting tribute to their history.'