2013 World Chess Cup less than a week away!
In less one week, 128 players will assemble in Tromsø, Norway for the FIDE World Chess Cup. These players have qualified through a number of methods including rating, zonal tournament and nominations. The World Cup will be held from August 10th to September 3rd in Tromsø and the knockout format will seed the top two players into the World Championship cycle ending in 2014.
With the 128 players and a US$1.6 million fund, the first six rounds will be two games classical (40 moves in 90 minutes). If there is no winner then the following tiebreaks will be played until the tie is broken: two rapid games (25 moves with 10 seconds added), two blitz (10 minutes with 10 seconds added), two blitz (5 minutes with 3 seconds added) and one Armageddon game (draw odds). At the end of six round two players will play four classical games followed with the same successive tiebreaks as above.
The field is strong with practically all of the top 20 players competing. Veselin Topalov is a notable omission as well as former World Championship candidate Nigel Short. Of course Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen are gearing up for the November match and both will get automatic bids into the next cycle.
The world’s youngest Grandmaster Wei Yi was nominated.
Photo by ChessBase.
Russia will have the largest contingent with 25 players, but not quite as dominant as in the past. China will have a strong contingent despite the absence of Wang Yue and Ding Liren. Both Hou Yifan and Wei Yi (world’s youngest GM currently) look to make an impression. The Ukraine will also have a strong contingent including the Women’s World Champion Anna Ushenina who will defend her crown against Hou Yifan later this year.
There will be a number of new faces such as Gillian Bwalya of Zambia who will face Vladimir Kramnik. Bwalya is a newcomer to top-level competition and only recently earned his IM title. The Peruvian sibling duo of Deysi and Jorge Cori will be competing and it may be the first time (in recent memory) a brother-sister duo has competed in this FIDE knockout tournament to qualify for the World Championship. While Americans will be lead by Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky, veterans are also in the field as Larry Christiansen of the U.S. will bringing his “rocking the rampants” style of play in a format suited for him. In the same vein, Judit Polgar was nominated by the FIDE President, a most appropriate selection.
The prize fund is US$1,600,000 with the following distribution (according to official site):
Round 1 losers: 64 x USD 6,000 (net 4,800) USD 384,000
Round 2 losers: 32 x USD 10,000 (net 8,000) USD 320,000
Round 3 losers: 16 x USD 16,000 (net 12,800) USD 256,000
Round 4 losers: 8 x USD 25,000 (net 20,000) USD 200,000
Round 5 losers: 4 x USD 35,000 (net 28,000) USD 140,000
Round 6 losers: 2 x USD 50,000 (net 40,000) USD 100,000
Runner-up: 1 x USD 80,000 (net 64,000) USD 80,000
World Cup winner: 1 x USD 120,000 (net 96,000) USD 120,000
Official Website: https://www.chessworldcup2013.com/
Rules and Regulations: https://www.chessworldcup2013.com/official-info/rules-and-regulations
2013 FIDE World Chess Cup Participants
a) 2011 World Cup semi-finalists
01. P. Svidler (RUS)
02. A. Grischuk (RUS)
03. V. Ivanchuk (UKR)
04. R. Ponomariov (UKR)
b) 2012 Women’s World Champion
05. A. Ushenina (UKR)
c) 2011 and 2012 Junior World Champions
06. D. Swiercz (POL)
07. A. Ipatov (TUR)
d) 18 players based on their average FIDE rating from 3/2012 to 1/2013
08. L. Aronian (ARM) 2816.22
09. V. Kramnik (RUS) 2798.88
10. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2789.22
11. S. Karjakin (RUS) 2777.44
12. F. Caruana (ITA) 2775.44
13. H. Nakamura (USA) 2772.77
14. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2760.44
15. G. Kamsky (USA) 2748.55
16. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2744.88
17. Wang Hao (CHN) 2739.11
18. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2738.44
19. P. Leko (HUN) 2731.11
20. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2728.77
21. L. Dominguez (CUB) 2727.44
22. M. Adams (ENG) 2721.66
23. R. Wojtaszek (POL) 2721.55
24. A. Giri (NED) 2715.33
25. I. Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2709.00
26. A. Shirov (LAT) 2708.33
e) 46 players from the 2012 and 2013 European Championships
27. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2012
28. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2012
29. V. Malakhov (RUS) 2012
30. D. Andreikin (RUS) 2012
31. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2012
32. M. Matlakov (RUS) 2012
33. V. Bologan (MDA) 2012
34. F. Vallejo Pons (ESP) 2012
35. Y. Kryvoruchko (UKR) 2012
36. S. Azarov (BLR) 2012
37. E. Najer (RUS) 2012
38. V. Akopian (ARM) 2012
39. A. Volokitin (UKR) 2012
40. J. Smeets (NED) 2012
41. C.B. Gawain Jones (ENG) 2012
42. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2012
43. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2012
44. A. Dreev (RUS) 2012
45. D. Khismatullin (RUS) 2012
46. M. Kobalia (RUS) 2012
47. V. Durarbeyli (AZE) 2012
48. A. Riazantsev (RUS) 2012
49. B. Jobava (GEO) 2012
50. A. Moiseenko (UKR) 2013
51. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2013
52. E. Romanov (RUS) 2013
53. A. Beliavsky (SLO) 2013
54. C. Lupulescu (ROU) 2013
55. S. Movsesian (ARM) 2013
56. H. Melkumyan (ARM) 2013
57. A. Korobov (UKR) 2013
58. I. Lysyj (RUS) 2013
59. A. Shimanov (RUS) 2013
60. A. Areshchenko (UKR) 2013
61. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2013
62. M. Kravtsiv (UKR) 2013
63. D. Dubov (RUS) 2013
64. M. Ragger (AUT) 2013
65. Z. Hracek (CZE) 2013
66. I. Popov (RUS) 2013
67. S. Brunello (ITA) 2013
68. S. Fedorchuk (UKR) 2013
69. E. Postny (ISR) 2013
70. V. Zvjaginsev (RUS) 2013
71. A. Istratescu (FRA) 2013
72. E. Safarli (AZE) 2013
f) 20 players from the Americas
73. G. Kaidanov (USA) Continental 2012
74. J. Granda Zuniga (PER) Continental 2012
75. A. Shabalov (USA) Continental 2012
76. E. Hansen (CAN) Continental 2012
77. A. Ramirez (USA) Zonal 2.1
78. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1
79. C. Holt (USA) Zonal 2.1
80. L. M. Christiansen (USA) Zonal 2.1
81. R. Robson (USA) Zonal 2.1
82. I. R. Ortiz Suarez (CUB) Continental 2013
83. D. Flores (ARG) Continental 2013
84. J. Cori (PER) Continental 2013
85. D. Cori T. (PER) Continental 2013
86. R. Felgaer (ARG) Zonal 2.5
87. S. Mareco (ARG) Zonal 2.5
88. R. Leitao (BRA) Zonal 2.4
89. A. Fier (BRA) Zonal 2.4
90. B. Sambuev (CAN) Zonal 2.2
91. L. Bruzon (CUB) (Zonal 2.3)
92. E. Iturrizaga (VEN) (Zonal 2.3)
g) 20 players from Asia/Oceania
93. Negi Parimarjan (IND) Continental 2012
94. Yu Yangyi (CHN) Continental 2012
95. Salem A. R. Saleh (UAE) Continental 2012
96. Liu Qingnan (CHN) Continental 2012
97. Oliver Barbosa (PHI) Continental 2012
98. Nguyen Ngoc Trung Son (VIE) Zonal 3.3
99. Wesley So (PHI) Zonal 3.3
100. G. Akash (IND) Zonal 3.7
101. Z. Rahman (BAN) Zonal 3.2
102. Lou Yiping (CHN) Zonal 3.5
103. Wan Yunguo (CHN) Zonal 3.5
104. Li Chao (CHN) Continental 2013
105. M. Paragua (PHI) Continental 2013
106. Le Quang Liem (VIE) Continental 2013
107. B. Adhiban (IND) Continental 2013
108. K. Sasikiran (IND) Continental 2013
109. I. Bjelobrk (AUS) Zonal 3.6
110. Darini Pouria (IRI) Zonal 3.1
111. A. Filippov (UZB) Zonal 3.4
112. M. Markov (KGZ) Zonal 3.4
h) 6 players from Africa
113. Amin Bassem (EGY) Continental 2013
114. A. Adly (EGY) Continental 2013 – WITHDREW!
115. E. El Gindy (EGY) Continental 2013
116. Ali Sebbar (MAR) Zonal 4.1
117. S. Shoker (EGY) Zonal 4.2
118. Gillian Bwalya (ZAM) Zonal 4.3
i) 6 nominees of the FIDE President
119. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
120. Hou Yifan (CHN)
121. J. Polgar (HUN)
122. D. Navara (CZE)
123. J-K. Duda (POL)
124. Wei Yi (CHN)
j) 4 nominees of the local organising committee
125. Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)
126. Simen Agdestein (NOR)
127. Leif Erlend Johannessen (NOR)
128. Torbjorn Ringdal Hansen (NOR)
Total = 128 players
Exciting 3 1/2 weeks of chess in store. Sure to be lots of “upsets”! Good luck to all! On whom will Caissa smile ?
Looks like Fun!
I was looking to China to make a splash, but without Wang Yue and Ding Liren, it will be tough. Otherwise the usual suspects will vie for the top two spots. I am hoping Nakamura goes through!
I agree upsets are waiting to be made and many of the “old lions” will be leaving Tromso early.
Looks like an exciting championship to watch!
https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2013/08/07/egypts-adly-denied-travel-to-world-cup/
https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2013/08/09/2013-world-chess-cup-tromso-norway/