30.8.2021 12:00:01 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 - http://www.chess24.com,
chess24india and MPL's YouTube and Facebook channels.



For further comments contact: 

Andreas Thome, CEO Play Magnus Group

andreas@playmagnus.com



For partnerships, contact

Sunil Kamath, Regional VP - APAC Play Magnus Group

sunil@playmagnus.com



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 - http://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 -
https://kommunikasjon.ntb.no/ir-files/16823864/807/1052/Download%20announcement%
20as%20PDF.pdf

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