First FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan

First FIDE Grand Prix in Baku

The first FIDE Grand Prix tournament will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan and is dedicated to the 85th birthday of former Azerbaijan President Heydar Aliyev, the father of the current President, Ilham Aliyev. The tournament will be held from April 20th to May 6th, 2008. There are thirteen rounds and two rest days.

The Grand Prix is a series of six tournaments to be held over two years (2008-2009) in leading world cities. 21 top world players are selected to compete in these tournaments. Each player agrees and will contract to participate in exactly four of these tournaments. Each tournament has 14 players playing over a schedule of seventeen days. The months allocated for the organisation of the Grand Prix tournaments are April, August and December of each respective year. These months have been selected to ensure there is no conflict with any other major event.

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.

Participants of the first FIDE Grand Prix in Baku 2008

Schedule

Prizes and Grand Prix points

Special Rules

Time control: 120 minutes for the first forty moves, 60 minutes for the next twenty moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.

Draws: Players will not be allowed to offer draws directly to their opponents. Any draw claim will be permitted only through the Chief Arbiter in the following cases:

• a triple-repetition of the position,
• a perpetual check,
• in theoretically drawn position and
• Applying the 50 move rule

The Chief Arbiter may consult with the Technical Adviser before accepting any claim by players for a draw. The Technical Adviser must be a Grandmaster, rated at least 2500, who has held the title of Grandmaster for at least ten years and is an active player as defined by the rating system. The Chief Arbiter is the only authority who can acknowledge the final result of the game in these cases.

Media: The players are expected to cooperate reasonably with the media. They are required to make themselves available for short interviews immediately after each game. In general, both players shall be available for the daily press conference.

Appearance: Players are required to be present at all official functions approved by FIDE President or his representative during the Tournament including official receptions and the opening and closing ceremonies. Players are specifically requested to note the requirements of FIDE Regulations C.01 (Article 8.1) in respect of their dignified appearance at all times during the event.

Baku, Azerbaijan

Baku, also known as Baki in Azerbaijani, derives its name from the old Persian Bād-kube "باد کوبہ", meaning "Wind-pounded city". It has a population of two million and is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan. Baku is bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympic games.

Dusk view of the city of Baku and the Caspian Sea

Baku, we remind you, is the birthplace of one Garry Kasparov (born April 13, 1963). Two other world class grandmasters hail from Baku or Azerbaijan: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who was born April 12, 1985 in Sumgayit; and Teimour Radjabov, born March 12, 1987 in Baku.

Next FIDE Grand Prix Tournaments

Links

• FIDE Global Chess Grand Prix Home Page
• Tournament web site for Baku Grand Prix 2008
  There will be live broadcast of the games on this site and on Playchess.com