FIDE World Cup Preview

Another big event is about to begin: the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø, Norway. The clocks will be started on Sunday at 15:00 CET for the first games of the first round. As always, the tournament is a knockout with 128 players; among the participants are Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura, Boris Gelfand and Gata Kamsky. The prize fund is 1.6 million Euros.

The FIDE World Cup is part of the World Championship cycle. It is held every two years, and according to the regulations, the winner and the runner up will qualify to the Candidates stage of the World Championship cycle 2012-2014. If there is a 3rd place qualification, a match will be organized together, and with the same terms, with the final match of the World Cup to decide the 3rd place.

The last four editions were held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. This year the host city is Tromsø, the largest city in Northern Norway and the second largest city anywhere north of the Arctic Circle. "Its population of 71,000 is boosted by 9,500 students attending the University of Tromsø, giving this modern city a youthful and spirited vibe. Tromsø is situated on an urban island, amid beautiful nature, fantastic fjords and dramatic mountain peaks," writes the official website.

There are 128 players and seven rounds, the last being the final between two players.  In rounds 1-6 the players play two classical games, and if necessary a rapid and blitz playoff. In round 7 the players play four classical games, and if necessary a rapid and blitz playoff.

Chess.com/TV

Chess.com will provide live commentary on the second day of every round, when the most exciting (and decisive) games will be played. At the moment, commentary is scheduled for Monday, August 12th, Thursday, August 15th, Sunday, August 18th, Wednesday, August 21st, and Saturday, August 24th. More info here!

Time control

The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. The tiebreaks start with two games of 25 minutes for each player with an addition of 10 seconds after each move. If the score is 1-1, another mini-match of two games will be played with a time control of 10 minutes plus 10 seconds increment after each move. If the score is 2-2, another mini-match of two games will be played with a time control of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment after each move. If the score is 3-3, an Armageddon game will decide with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black who has draw odds. (In this game, from move 61 there will be a 3-second increment).

Prizes

Players

The World Cup is a knockout event that starts with 128 players. They qualified as follows (in order of priority): World Champion + 4 semi-finalists from the World Cup 2011, the Women's World Champion, the World Junior U-20 Champions 2011 & 2012, 18 rated players, 92 players from Continental Championships, 6 FIDE President nominees and 4 organiser nominees.

Only three super grandmasters are not playing: World Champion Viswanathan Anand, his opponent in the next world title Magnus Carlsen, and the winner of the 2012-2013 Grand Prix series, Veselin Topalov. 

Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik, who have skipped World Cups in the past, need to play this year. The current FIDE regulations state that players can only qualify on rating for the 2014 Candidates Tournament if they have participated in the FIDE Grand Prix series or the World Cup, and Aronian and Kramnik said no to the GP.

a) World Cup 2011 semi-finalists:
01. P. Svidler (RUS)
02. A. Grischuk (RUS)
03. V. Ivanchuk (UKR)
04. R. Ponomariov (UKR)

b) Women's World Champion 2012:
05. A. Ushenina (UKR)

c) Junior World Champions 2011 & 2012:
06. D. Swiercz (POL)
07. A. Ipatov (TUR)

d) From FIDE Rating List, average 3/2012 up 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 European Championships 2012 & 2013:
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. A. 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 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 B (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*
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)

* According to The Chess Drum, Ahmed Adly of Egypt cannot participate because of an obligatory service to the Egyptian Army.

World Cup 2013 | Pairings round 1