FIDE
announcement
Grand Prix Qualifiers
FIDE is pleased to publish the names of the first batch of players who have
qualified for the Grand Prix series 2008/9. Following a request by some of the
players who are playing in the matches this year, the FIDE President has accepted
to allow the four players to take part in the Grand Prix from the beginning,
if they so desire.
The criteria for qualification therefore read as follows:
3.1. MATCHES. For the first cycle of 2008/9, all players in the World
Championship (i.e. Kramnik or Anand) and Challenger matches (Topalov or the
World Cup 2007 winner) will be invited to participate in the Grand Prix from
the outset. Given the organisation of both these matches in the third quarter
of 2008, these players will all be asked to commit their participation in the
Grand Prix series by not later than 31st January 2008. Should any of these players
decline to participate in the Grand Prix series, the President may nominate
a player to replace and this player must be rated among the top 40 players in
the World.
Name |
Title |
Country |
Rating |
Games |
B-Year |
Kramnik, Vladimir |
GM |
RUS |
2799 |
9 |
1975 |
Anand, Viswanathan |
GM |
IND |
2799 |
3 |
1969 |
Topalov, Veselin |
GM |
BUL |
2780 |
14 |
1975 |
Kamsky, Gata |
GM |
USA |
2726 |
32 |
1974 |
3.2. QUALIFICATION. The FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk 2007 will
be used to determine three qualifiers for the 2008/9 Grand Prix Series. Excluding
the winner, these will be the players who have qualified to the semi final stages
of the World Cup.
Name |
Title |
Country |
Rating |
Games |
B-Year |
Shirov, Alexei |
GM |
ESP |
2755 |
49 |
1972 |
Carlsen, Magnus |
GM |
NOR |
2733 |
37 |
1990 |
Karjakin, Sergey |
GM |
UKR |
2732 |
36 |
1990 |
3.3. RATING. Based on an average calculation to two decimal places,
of the January 2007 rating list and the October 2007 rating list in the year
prior to start of the cycle, seven qualifiers will be selected (excluding the
four players who will be playing the matches as defined in Article 2.1). If
players have the same average rating, the number of games played between January
2007 and September 2007 (rating period) will be used to determine ranking. To
ensure active participation in the future, a minimum of twenty five (25) games
is being recommended in the four rating lists including and prior to the October
rating list in the year of qualification i.e. 2009, 2011 etc.. Given the short
notice in the first edition of the Grand Prix, this regulation will not be applicable
in the 2008-2009 series. If any player, qualified by rating, does not accept
to play in the Grand Prix series, then the selection process using the average
rating (Oct-07 & Jan-07 to two decimal places) plus number of games played
in the rating period (Jan-07 + Apr-07 + Jul-07 + Oct-07) will be adopted to
identify reserves, until the number of qualifiers required for the Grand Prix
is completed. The first seven players and reserves are as follows :
No. |
Name |
Nat. |
Oct-07 |
Games |
Jan-07 |
Games |
Avg |
1. |
Ivanchuk, Vassily |
UKR |
2787 |
20 |
2750 |
33 |
2768.50 |
2. |
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar |
AZE |
2752 |
11 |
2754 |
25 |
2753.00 |
3. |
Leko, Peter |
HUN |
2755 |
21 |
2749 |
9 |
2752.00 |
4. |
Morozevich, Alexander |
RUS |
2755 |
19 |
2741 |
15 |
2748.00 |
5. |
Aronian, Levon |
ARM |
2741 |
14 |
2744 |
13 |
2742.50 |
6. |
Radjabov, Teimour |
AZE |
2742 |
9 |
2729 |
6 |
2735.50 |
7. |
Gelfand, Boris |
ISR |
2736 |
21 |
2733 |
19 |
2734.50 |
Reserve players |
1st |
Adams, Michael |
ENG |
2729 |
16 |
2735 |
0 |
2732.00 |
2nd |
Svidler, Peter |
RUS |
2732 |
25 |
2728 |
28 |
2730.00 |
3rd |
Polgar, Judit |
HUN |
2708 |
9 |
2727 |
6 |
2717.50 |
4th |
Grischuk, Alexander |
RUS |
2715 |
23 |
2717 |
16 |
2716.00 |
A list (Exel) of the top
25 players by rating and games is also attached for completeness sake.
3.4. PRESIDENT NOMINEES. The FIDE President may nominate one player
and he/she must be rated among the top 40 players in the world as per the October
2007 rating list. If the President has more than one nominee as a result of
players qualified under 3.1 declining to play, then the players nominated by
the President should be from different countries.
Still to be nominated
3.5. HOST CITY NOMINEES. One players may be nominated by each host city
and must be rated not less than 2550 in the last rating list prior to the final
nomination or selection of players. If the host city does not have a player
rated at least 2550 then the highest rated player from the Federation of the
host city will be invited to play, subject to his rating not being lower than
2500.
Still to be nominated
The WCCC will coordinate with Global Chess and with all the host cities, in
the allocation of players, should there be a conflict in the number of players
in their ranking of preference of host cites. FIDE is not obliged, but will
do its utmost to respect the players’ preferences, and will balance the player
allocation to a host city according to predetermined criteria such as average
tournament rating, piece colour, continental representation, etc.
Article 2 has also been clarified, as a result as follows:
The winner of the Grand Prix series at the end of 2009 will play the winner
of the World Cup held in 2009 in an eight game match to become the challenger
to the World Champion in a match to be held in the third quarter of 2010. Should
the overall winner of the Grand Prix also be the World Champion at the end of
the Grand Prix series in 2009, then the Challenger rights will go to the second
placed overall in the Grand Prix. Should the second placed player in the Grand
Prix also be the winner of the World Cup 2009, then the Challenger rights emanating
from the Grand Prix will go to the third placed overall in the Grand Prix series.
Dates and venues
FIDE has announced the following dates and venues for the 2008/2009 Grand Prix
Tournaments:
1 |
2008 |
April 20th |
May 6th |
Baku, Azerbaijan |
2 |
2008 |
July 30th |
August 15th |
Krasnoyarsk (or other Russian city), Russia |
3 |
2008 |
December 13th |
December 29th |
Doha, Qatar |
4 |
2009 |
April 14th |
April 28th |
Montreux, Switzerland |
5 |
2009 |
August 1st |
August 17th |
Elista, Russia |
6 |
2009 |
December 7th |
December 23rd |
Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic |
|
Reserve cities are Istanbul and Teheran. |
Each Tournament will be a 14 player all play all. The winner of the Grand Prix
will play with the winner of the 2009 World Cup for the right to challenge the
World Champion in 2010.