2013 World Chess Cup less than a week away!

Norway

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.

Wei Yi: The world's youngest GM.

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.

Is this Judit Polgar’s last chance to qualify for title?
Photo from https://chess.ugrasport.com.

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

7 Comments

  1. 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

  2. Exciting 3 1/2 weeks of chess in store. Sure to be lots of “upsets”! Good luck to all! On whom will Caissa smile ?

  3. 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.

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