In his November 2010 letter
to FIDE Magnus Carlsen said that after careful consideration he had reached
the conclusion that the ongoing 2008–2012 cycle (i.e. the Candidate Matches
that took place May 2011) did not represent a system that was sufficiently modern
and fair to provide the motivation he needed to go through a lengthy process
of preparations and matches and to perform at his best.
Carlsen presented his own ideas for future cycles, which should end in an 8-10
player World Championship tournament similar to those staged in 2005 and 2007.
He also proposed that FIDE should abolish the privileges of the World Champion,
who would take part in the finals together with the other candidates.
Now, after his latest success in the Sao
Paulo/Bilbao Masters the 20-year-old Norwegian, who tops the current world
live ratings by 14 points, has informed the Norwegian newspaper VG
that he is willing to take part in the 2011-2013 FIDE World Championship cycle
– if the World Chess Federation sticks to its announced intention of staging
the last-eight Candidates as a tournament instead of matches. Even thought the
reigning World Champion (Anand or Gelfand) will retain their privilege coming
in at the final stage, Magnus intends to participate, if he is given "water-tight
contracts."
Carlsen's decision comes after FIDE published its rules
for the Candidates Tournament 2011–2013 (PDF). In this we find that
the Candidates Tournament Regulations state:
3.1 Tournament Format & System
The 8 players shall play a double round robin tournament (14 rounds). The
players who are from the same federation will play each other in rounds 1
and 8 (if only two) and if up to four players are from the same federation
in rounds 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10.
The prize fund is, incidentally, 420,000 Euros, net and cleared of any local
taxes. The winner gets €95,000, the runner up €88,000, the third place
€75,000, etc. (eighth place €17,000). The winner of course gets to
challenge the World Champion in 2013.
So who qualifies for playing in the last-eight Candidates Tournament? The FIDE
rules specify that they are:
2.1 World Cup 2011 – The three (3) top winners of
the World Cup 2011 qualify.
2.2 World Championship Match 2012 – The player who
lost the 2012 World Championship Match qualifies.
2.3 Average FIDE Rating List of July 2011 & January 2012
– Three (3) players qualify to participate by rating (excluding the
players who qualify from articles 2.1 and 2.2 above). For the purpose of deciding
the 3 rated player qualifiers, the average from the following lists will be
used: rating of July 2011 plus rating of January 2012 divided by 2. In case
of equality two decimals will be taken into consideration. If the numbers
are still equal then the number of games from the twelve months covering the
whole year 2011 shall be decisive. That means the player with the greater
number of games shall qualify. If the numbers are still equal then the list
of March 2012 shall be decisive. If the rating in the March 2012 list is still
the same, the player with the greater number of games in this list will qualify.
Players who appear in the inactive list in both July 2011 and January 2012
will not be able to qualify as a rated player. If the player is inactive in
one list but appears in the other, then the single rating that is published
shall be taken as the average.
2.6 One nominated player by the Organiser – A player,
nominated by the organiser, with a rating of at least 2700 in the FIDE rating
list of January 2012.
2.7 Replacements – Any replacements necessary will
be fulfilled from the average rating list of July 2011 & January 2012.
So Magnus can qualify easy peasy on point 2.3 or even 2.6 (we don't know what
happened to 2.4 and 2.5, which you can search for in the FIDE rules). The rules
also give the time controls:
3.5.1 The time control for each game shall be: 120 minutes
for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes
for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from
move 61.
and the tiebreak criteria (3.7):
a) The results of the games between the players involved in the tie. If they
are still tied:
b) The total number of wins in the tournament of every player involved in
the tie. If they are still tied:
c) Sonneborn - Berger System.
If there is no clear winner with the above 3 criteria, there will be a special
competition between the players who still remain tied after using the 3rd
criteria (Sonneborn-Berger): after a new drawing of colors, each tied player
will play two (2) tie-break games with the other tied opponent(s). The games
shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes for each
player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.
Finally we find the following (3.9.2b)
The players cannot draw a game by agreement. A claim for a draw is permitted
only through the Chief Arbiter (or his Deputy) in the cases of perpetual check,
stalemate, threefold repetition, the 50-move rule or insufficient material.
Other kinds of theoretical drawn positions are allowed to be claimed by one
or both players through the Chief Arbiter (or his Deputy). The Chief Arbiter
can then declare it, or not, as a drawn game after consulting his/her Technical
Advisor.
So things are falling into place, and the currently strongest player in the
world will finally be actually fighting for the World Championship title.
Links to previous articles on the subject
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Magnus Carlsen drops out of World Championship cycle
05.11.2010 – The shock on Friday: the world's
number one player for most of 2010, 19-year-old Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen,
has decided to drop out of the current World Championship cycle, in which
he had reached the Candidate stage of the last eight. The series of knock-out
matches is scheduled to begin in March next year, to determine the challenger
of the World Champion Vishy Anand. Letter
to FIDE. |
| |
Candidates Matches in Kiev – proposal by the UCF
15.08.2010 – Two days ago we published a
report on FIDE Presidential candidate Anatoly Karpov's proposal to
move the Candidates matches to Kiev, Ukraine. Today we received a message
from the Ukrainian Chess Federation confirming that it would gladly host
the matches – in a longer format and with a break before the final. The
UCF also wants to organise a "Chess Davos". Press
release. |
| |
Karpov proposes Kiev for Candidates matches
13.08.2010 – They were originally scheduled
for Baku, Azerbaijan, then moved to Kazan, Russia – in spite of a stern
protest by Veselin Topalov. There are still some unresolved issues, e.g.
who would fill the wildcard? Now Anatoly Karpov has proposed moving the
Candidates matches to Kiev, Ukraine, and nominating former FIDE world
champion Ruslan Ponomariov as a candidate. Press
reports. |
| |
Danailov: If we have to, then we’ll play
03.08.2010 – When FIDE decided to move the
Candidates matches from Baku, Azerbaijan there was a sharp protest by
Veselin Topalov, who threatened to withdraw from the cycle if he had to
face a Russian opponent in Russia. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov fired
back, implying Topalov could be replaced. In a remarkable Sports Express
interview Yuri Vasiliev brings some clarity
into the matter. |
| |
FIDE moves Candidates matches to Kazan, Russia
27.07.2010 – Just days after a request from
the Russian Chess Federation to move the 2011 Candidates matches away
from Baku, Azerbaijan, FIDE President Kirsan Illumzhinov has announced
that the match will indeed now take place in Kazan. If Topalov refuses
to play in Russia, as he has threatened, he will (brace yourself) be replaced
by Alexander Grischuk. Sport
Express report. |
| |
FIDE to move Candidates Matches, Topalov threatens boycott
24.07.2010 – The Candidates Matches for the
next FIDE World Championship cycle were scheduled to be played in Baku,
Azerbaijan. Since one of the candidates, Levon Aronian, is Armenian, and
the two countries are de facto at war, FIDE wants to move the matches
to Kazan in Russia. To this another candidate, Veselin Topalov, has issued
a very sharp protest
and threat. |
| |
Sutovsky: Proposal for the Candidates Matches
22.07.2010 – "On July 20 I was invited to meet
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov," writes Israeli GM Emil Sutovsky, "in
order to discuss the situation with the Candidates Matches 2011. I was
given few minutes to submit my proposal, and it was agreed, that I will
publish an open letter on this very important matter." Here is Sutovsky's
open
letter.
|
| |
FIDE Candidates Tournament split between two venues
18.10.2009 – The 2011 World Championship challenger
is decided in a Candidates Tournament with eight participants (including
World Chp and Grand Prix winners). At the 80th FIDE Congress in Greece
this week FIDE decided, remarkably, that the tournament, scheduled for
2010/2011, would be split into two parts, to allow candidate Levon Aronian,
who is from Armenia, to
avoid playing in Azerbaijan. |
| |
Veselin Topalov and the new FIDE world championship
cycle
24.06.2007 – At the Presidential Board meeting,
which is currently being held in Tallinn, Estonia, FIDE has introduced
a new Grand Prix series and a new world championship cycle. With a high-ranking
Bulgarian delegation presenting a case for Veselin Topalov to enter the
world championship FIDE made some special rules to govern the 2007-2009
stage. We have tried to decipher
the new system. |
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