Master Class Vol.8: Magnus Carlsen
Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.
The FIDE World Cup is a knock-out-tournament with 128 players. The players first play a mini-match of two games with classical time-control. If these two games bring no decision a tie-breaker with rapid- and, if necessary, blitz-games will follow.
This format was introduced shortly after Kirsan Ilyumzhinov became FIDE President in 1995, and it was originally designed as a new format to establish the World Championship challenger. The first tournament with the new knock-out mode was played in 1997 in Groningen and it was won by Vishy Anand. Immediately after winning the knock-out competition Anand played a six-game-World Championship match against the reigning FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov in Lausanne which Anand lost in the tie-break.
From 1999 to 2004 FIDE organised all its World Championships in knock-out mode. But as part of the reunification process of the two rivaling World Championships FIDE returned to World Championship matches. The former knock-out World Championship became the "World Cup".
At first, the World Cup was always played in Khanty-Mansiysk but later the bidding process for the larger and historic Chess Olympiad included the stipulation that the host federation agreed to sponsor and organise the World Cup one year before.
Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk, site of countless FIDE events | Photo: ugra2017.fide.com
Who and how one qualifies for the World Cup is regulated down to the smallest detail. (Well, small, perhaps not the smallest, as we'll see below!) Most participants qualify because of their good results in the respective Continental Championships. The two players who played for the World Championship, the semi-finalists of the previous World Cup, the World Junior Champions 2015 and 2016 and the 18 best Elo-rated players are automatically qualified. FIDE and the organisers also have the right to give wildcards to players of their choice.
The World Cup offers players an opportunity to take part in the Candidates Tournament in Spring 2018 — the two finalists qualify for the Candidates.
Magnus Carlsen at the 2014 Tromsø Olympiad | Photo: Pascal Simon
In 2015 Magnus Carlsen surprised the chess world with the following statement, published on his Facebook page:
"In short, I strongly believe the chess world should evolve to a more just system. What does that look like? I have long thought that moving to an annual knock-out event, similar to the World Cup, would be more equitable. This change would in effect improve the odds of becoming World Champion for nearly every chess player, with the exception of the reigning World Champion, and potentially a few other top players who would no longer be favoured by the current format. Creating regional qualifying events combined with rating spots, the participation of all the top players in the world and the undisputed World Championship title at stake, I truly believe this would make the World Championship cycle more accessible to everyone. In conclusion, I strongly recommend FIDE look into modernizing the World Championship cycle format."
Apparently, the World Champion is a big fan of the knock-out mode. If it was up to Magnus Carlsen he would use this format to play every year for the World Championhip. Now he's putting his rating points where is mouth is.
Worl Champ in WC is such a surprise that regulation Candidates doesnt consider! If Carlsen goes in Final, 3rd GPFIDE qualfies for Candidates
— Megalovic (@Megalovic) July 24, 2017
Speaking of rating, Carlsen's participation has some interesting potential consequences for other would-be qualifiers for the Candidates, as one can assume that Carlsen will not play in the Candidates even if he qualifies. For instance, if Magnus reaches the Final match in Tbilisi, then a third qualifying spot from the FIDE Grand Prix would open up. This could potentially be filled by one of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alexander Grischuk, Teimour Radjabov, Ding Liren, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The top two finishers after the final leg in Mallorca will automatically qualify.
Шах,с женой) pic.twitter.com/UJdVzZX01J
— Rauf Mamedov (@muisback88) July 23, 2017
Mamedyarov has finished his part of the Grand Prix and recently took time off to get married!
If either Sergey Karjakin or Magnus Carlsen reach the final in Tbilisi, then the 3rd place finisher in the World Cup would earn a spot, but to determine who is 3rd, the regulations call for a match to be played along side the final!
FIDE World Cup 2017 Regulations | Source: FIDE
Is your head spinning yet? Well, how about this: What if both Carlsen and Karjakin reach the final? It could happen of course! And at the moment it's not completely clear what the ramifications would be in the rules.
In any case, the World Cup now promises to be a super-strong and exciting event, with the top 15 players in the world all participating.
Translation from German: Johannes Fischer
a) World Champion and World Cup 2015 semi-finalists
01. M. Carlsen (NOR)
02. S. Karjakin (RUS)
03. P. Svidler (RUS)
04. P. Eljanov (UKR)
05. A. Giri (NED)
b) Junior World Champions 2015 & 2016:
06. M. A. Antipov (RUS)
07. J. Xiong (USA)
c) From FIDE Rating List, 18 players, average 2/2016 up to 1/2017:
08. F. Caruana (USA) 2807.91
09. V. Kramnik (RUS) 2807.58
10. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2799.50
11. L. Aronian (ARM) 2789.33
12. H. Nakamura (USA) 2786.25
13. Wesley So (USA) 2781.41
14. V. Anand (IND) 2774.33
15. Ding Liren (CHN) 2767.66
16. P. Harikrishna (IND) 2760.50
17. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2757.08
18. A. Grischuk (RUS) 2749.33
19. Li Chao (CHN) 2744.33
20. M. Adams (ENG) 2736.08
21. D. Andreikin (RUS) 2734.75
22. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2734.41
23. Yu Yangyi (CHN) 2732.50
24. I. Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2732.33
25. R. Rapport (HUN) 2729.50
26. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2724.25
d) 46 players from European Championships 2016 & 2017
27. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2016
28. I. Kovalenko (LAT) 2016
29. B. Jobava (GEO) 2016
30. D. Navara (CZE) 2016
31. F. Vallejo Pons (ESP) 2016
32. R. Wojtaszek (POL) 2016
33. K. Piorun (POL) 2016
34. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2016
35. A. Goganov (RUS) 2016
36. D. Dubov (RUS) 2016
37. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2016
38. I. Cheparinov (BUL) 2016
39. E. Najer (RUS) 2016
40. R. Hovhannisyan (ARM) 2016
41. S. Zhigalko (BLR) 2016
42. M. Palac (CRO) 2016
43. I. Salgado Lopez (ESP) 2016
44. A. Dreev (RUS) 2016
45. D. Anton Guijarro (ESP) 2016
46. K. Stupak (BLR) 2016
47. L. D. Nisipeanu (GER) 2016
48. A. Tari (NOR) 2016
49. A. Demchenko (RUS) 2016
50. M. Matlakov (RUS) 2017
51. V. Fedoseev (RUS) 2017
52. D. Fridman (GER) 2017
53. A. Motylev (RUS) 2017
54. J. K. Duda (POL) 2017
55. D. Howell (ENG) 2017
56. M. Kravtsiv (UKR) 2017
57. A. Areshchenko (UKR) 2017
58. M. Bluebaum (GER) 2017
59. B. Grachev (RUS) 2017
60. V. Kunin (GER) 2017
61. B. Bok (NED) 2017
62. G. Jones (ENG) 2017
63. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2017
64. H. Melkumyan (ARM) 2017
65. D. Mastrovasilis (GRE) 2017
66. V. Artemiev (RUS) 2017
67. M. Rodshtein (ISR) 2017
68. A. Aleksandrov (BLR) 2017
69. V. Erdos (HUN) 2017
70. Y. Kuzubov (UKR) 2017
71. L. Lenic (SLO) 2017
72. J. Hjartarson (ISL) Nordic Zonal
e) 20 players from Americas
73. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1
74. V. Akobian (USA) Zonal 2.1
75. Y. Zherebukh (USA) Zonal 2.1
76. B. Sambuev (CAN) Zonal 2.2
77. J. Ruiz Castillo (COL) Zonal 2.3
78. Y. Gonzalez Vidal (CUB) Zonal 2.3
79. J. Cori (PER) Zonal 2.4
80. F. El Debs (BRA) Zonal 2.4
81. S. Mareco (ARG) Zonal 2.5
82. L. Krysa (ARG) Zonal 2.5
83. E. Cordova (PER) Continental 2016
84. A. Lenderman (USA) Continental 2016
85. A. Kovalyov (CAN) Continental 2016
86. D. Flores (ARG) Continental 2016
87. S. Sevian (USA) Continental 2017
88. N. Delgado Ramirez (PAR) Continental 2017
89. A. Bachmann (PAR) Continental 2017
90. L. Bruzon (CUB) Continental 2017
91. Y. Bacallao Alonso (CUB) Continental 2017
92. A. Fier (BRA) Continental 2017
f) 20 players from Asia/Oceania
93. Sethuraman S.P. (IND) Continental 2016
94. Le Quang Lie (VIE) Continental 2016
95. Wei Yi (CHN) Continental 2016
96. Murtas Kazhgaleyev (KAZ) Continental 2016
97. Deep Sengupta (IND) Continental 2016
98. Pourramezanali Amirreza (IRI) Zonal 3.1
99. Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib (BAN) Zonal 3.2
100. Yeoh Li Tian (MAS) Zonal 3.3
101. Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (VIE) Zonal 3.3
102. J. Vakhidov (UZB) Zonal 3.4
103. Muhammad Khusenkhojaev (TJK) Zonal 3.4
104. Liu Guanchu (CHN) Zonal 3.5
105. Dai Changren (CHN) Zonal 3.5
106. Anton Smirnov (AUS) Zonal 3.6
107. Karthikeyan Murali (IND) Zonal 3.7
108. Wang Hao (CHN) Continental 2017
109. Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) Continental 2017
110. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (IND) Continental 2017
111. Batchuluun Tsegmed (MGL) Continental 2017
112. Sadorra Julio Catalino (PHI) Continental 2017
g) 6 players from Africa
113. M. Haddouche (ALG) Zonal 4.1
114. E. El Gindy (EGY) Zonal 4.2
115. K. Solomon (RSA) Zonal 4.3
116. O. Balogun (NGR) Zonal 4.4
117. Amin Bassem (EGY) Continental 2017
118. D. Cawdery (RSA) Continental 2017
h) 1 ACP Tour Qualifier
119. V. Ivanchuk (UKR)
i) 5 nominees of FIDE
120. R. Ponomariov (UKR)
121. Hou Yifan (CHN)
122. B. Adhiban (IND)
123. K. Kulaots (EST)
124. H. D. Ziska (FAI)
j) 4 nominees of the local Organising Committee
125. L. Pantsulaia (GEO)
126. T. Radjabov (AZE)
127. M. Mchedlishvili (GEO)
128. N. Dzagnidze (GEO)
Total = 128 players
Prizefund (according to FIDE Regulations)
Loser of round 1: 64 x USD 6,000 (net 4,800) USD 384,000
Loser of round 2: 32 x USD 10,000 (net 8,000) USD 320,000
Loser of round 3: 16 x USD 16,000 (net 12,800) USD 256,000
Loser of round 4: 8 x USD 25,000 (net 20,000) USD 200,000
Loser of round 5: 4 x USD 35,000 (net 28,000) USD 140,000
Loser of round 6: 2 x USD 50,000 (net 40,000) USD 100,000
Finalist: 1 x USD 80,000 (net 64,000) USD 80,000
Winner: 1 x USD 120,000 (net 96,000) USD 120,000
Total: USD 1,600,000
