At the bottom of this page you will find links to the full text published
by FIDE. Since not everybody will have the time or energy to go through this
18-page document we have read it for you and present you with a summary of
the most important points.
General
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The FIDE World Chess Championship cycle 2003/04 will include four Continental
Chess Championships (CCC), the World Chess Championship tournament (WCCT)
and the World Chess Championship final match (WCCFM).
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The Continental Chess Championships will be given to Europe, the Americas,
Asia/Oceania and Africa.
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Any FIDE member federation and any sponsor can bid for the WCCT or the
WCCFM. The bidding process for the WCCT, which will be held before 1 July
2004, opened on 20 December 2003. Bids must be submitted no later than
20 February 2004. The envelopes will be opened in the FIDE Secretariat
on 23 February at 12.00 local time. FIDE will choose the organizers on
the basis of prize fund, local taxation, playing conditions, security,
media coverage and climatic conditions.
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Each applicant must pay a non-refundable fee of USD 1000 for the bidding
form. Bank guarantees must be provided for 20% of the prize fund USD 50,000
for other obligations. The full amounts must be deposited in an escrow
account one month before the start of the event. 50% of this amount will
be retained by FIDE if the organizer fails to stage the event or breaches
the agreement with FIDE.
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The Continental Chess Championships will have a total prize fund of $350,000,
divided among the Continents, as follows: Europe $120,000, Americas $80,000,
Asia/Oceania $80,000 and Africa $70,000. FIDE retains 20% of the prize
funds.
The World Chess Championship tournament
- The WCCT can be organized in one group of 128 players or two groups with
64 players each. In the first case there will be seven rounds of knockout
matches comprising of two games each in the first five rounds, four games
for round six and six games for the final match (round seven). In case of
64 players there will be six rounds of knockout matches comprising of two
games for rounds one to five and four games for round six.
- The number of qualifiers for each continent is: Europe 46 players, Americas
19, Asia 19, Africa 6.
- The 128 players of the WCCT will include the current FIDE World Champion,
the runner-up and the two semi-finalists of the 2001-2002 World Championship
(i.e. Ponomariov, Ivanchuk, Anand and Svidler), the world junior champion
2002, 20 highest rated players in the July 2002 and January 2003 list, 90
qualifiers from CCCs, 9 players nominated by the FIDE President and 4 by
the organizers.
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All players must pay their own cost of travel, accommodation and meals
for their duration of stay. There will be no cash advance or pocket money
for the players. There is an entry fee of $150 per player.
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For purposes of pairings the players shall be ranked according to the
current January 2004 published rating list. The World Champion will be
seeded number one.
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The rate of play is 1.5 hours for the first 40 moves, followed by 15 min
till the end of the game, with an incremental time of 30 seconds per move
from move one.
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Tiebreaks: If the scores are level after the regular games two tie break
games will be played. The rate of play is 25 minutes for all moves plus
10 seconds increment for each move. If the scores are still level two five-minute
games will be played, with a 10 seconds increment for each move. If the
score is still level one sudden death game will be played, with White getting
six minutes and Black 5 minutes, without increment, with White having to
win to qualify for the next round.
Commercial exploitation
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FIDE has exclusive financial rights to the events and is free to exploit
them commercially, including entering into advertisement agreements requiring
players to wear clothes, aprons or caps with the branding of sponsors.
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Income generated by admission charges, concessions, photography, radio,
goes to the organizers. TV and Internet web transmission rights belong
to FIDE, which has the exclusive rights for live games on Internet.
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Only photographers and camera crew expressly authorized by the press officer
can work in the playing venue.
Commitment of the World Champion
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The winner of the final match of the World Championship tournament will
be designated as World Champion. Following the spirit of the Prague Agreement
and not later than July 2005, he must play a match against the best rated
player GM G. Kasparov for a minimum prize fund of $500,000. The winner
of this match shall be declared World Champion.
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The winner of the WCCFM is precluded (alongside with the from the quarter-final
stage of the Championship) from playing in any “World Championship”
match that is not officially recognized by FIDE.
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In accordance with the Prague Agreement, the new World Champion will play
a match with the winner of the Kramnik-Leko match for the title of the
undisputed World Champion. In case this match is not organized, FIDE shall
announce its new decision in due course.
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