FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009

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The FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009 is a series of six chess tournaments, which form part of the qualification for the World Chess Championship 2011. It is being administered by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.

The winner of the Grand Prix will play a match in 2010 against the winner of the Chess World Cup 2009. The winner of that match will be the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2011.[1]

Contents

[edit] Format

There are six tournaments spread over 2008 and 2009. Each of the 21 participating players plays in exactly four of the six tournaments.

Each tournament is a 14 player, single round-robin tournament. In each round players score 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 for a loss. Grand prix points are then allocated according to each player's standing in the tournament: 180 grand prix points for first place, 150 for second place, 130 for third place, and then 110 down to 10 points for places four to fourteen (decreasing by 10 points for each place). (Grand Prix points are split between players on equal tournament points).

Players only count their best three tournament results. The player with the most grand prix points is the winner.

If a tie-break is needed for the overall grand prix winner, the system is:[2]

  1. The fourth result not already in the top three performances
  2. The number of actual game points scored in the four tournaments
  3. The number of first place finishes
  4. The number of second place finishes
  5. The number of won games
  6. Drawing of lots

[edit] Tournament dates

The tournament dates and locations are as follows:[3]

  • April 20–May 6, 2008, Baku, Azerbaijan
  • July 30–August 15, 2008, Sochi, Russia
  • December 13–29, 2008, Doha, Qatar
  • April 14–28, 2009, Montreux, Switzerland
  • August 1–17, 2009, Elista, Russia
  • December 7–23, 2009, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

[edit] Draw rules

A variation from normal chess rules is that the players are not allowed to talk to each other during the game and a draw by agreement is not allowed. A draw has to be claimed with the arbiter, who is assisted by an active grandmaster who has had the title for at least ten years. The only draws allowed are:[4]

[edit] Qualification

  • The FIDE president may nominate one player from the top 40 in the world. If there are withdrawals, he may nominate more than one.[6]

[edit] Participants

On March 5, 2008, FIDE released the list of participants, along with their world rankings according to the January 2008 ratings list (shown here in brackets). [7] [8]

[edit] Prominent non-participants

Of the original 14 players who qualified, Anand, Kramnik and Topalov (2008/2009 contenders), Shirov (World Cup 2007) and Morozevich (ratings list) are all not taking part. One of the first four nominated reserves, Judit Polgar is also not participating. Nevertheless, the lineup for the Grand Prix included 13 of 20 top-rated Grandmasters at the time it was announced.[8]

The only one to publicly give a reason is Alexander Morozevich, who announced that he was boycotting the Grand Prix, saying the process was too long, unwieldy and disorganised. He claimed that Anand, Kramnik and Topalov were also boycotting.[9] The Week in Chess reported that Kramnik and Topalov were not participating because the event had insufficient prize money.[10]

[edit] Event results

Player Baku Sochi Doha Montreux Elista Karlovy Vary Total
Flag of Norway Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 153⅓ 153⅓
Flag of the People's Republic of China Wang Yue (CHN) 153⅓ 153⅓
Flag of Azerbaijan Vugar Gashimov (AZE) 153⅓ 153⅓
Flag of Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 105 105
Flag of Russia Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 105 105
Flag of Russia Peter Svidler (RUS) 85 85
Flag of England Michael Adams (ENG) 85 85
Flag of Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 60 60
Flag of Ukraine Sergey Karjakin (UKR) 60 60
Flag of the United States Gata Kamsky (USA) 60 60
Flag of Bulgaria Ivan Cheparinov (BUL) 35 35
Flag of the Czech Republic David Navara (CZE) 35 35
Flag of France Etienne Bacrot (FRA) 15 15
Flag of Russia Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS) 15 15
Flag of Hungary Peter Leko (HUN)
Flag of Ukraine Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR)
Flag of Armenia Levon Aronian (ARM)
Flag of Israel Boris Gelfand (ISR)
Flag of Russia Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS)
Flag of Switzerland Yannick Pelletier (SUI)
Flag of Qatar Mohamad Al-Modiahki (QAT)

[edit] Baku, April-May 2008

The first Grand Prix event began on April 20, 2008 and concluded on May 5, 2008.

The final crosstable was as follows:[11]

                          Rtg   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4  Tot GP-Pts
 1 Gashimov, Vugar        2679  * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½  8    153⅓
 2 Wang Yue               2689  ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½  8    153⅓
 3 Carlsen, Magnus        2765  ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1  8    153⅓
 4 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2752  ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 1 0  7½   105
 5 Grischuk, Alexander    2716  0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1  7½   105
 6 Adams, Michael         2729  ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ ½  6½    85
 7 Svidler, Peter         2746  0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1  6½    85
 8 Radjabov, Teimour      2751  ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½  6     60
 9 Kamsky, Gata           2726  0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1  6     60
10 Karjakin, Sergey       2732  ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1  6     60
11 Cheparinov, Ivan       2696  ½ 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 0 1  5½    35
12 Navara, David          2672  ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 * ½ 0  5½    35
13 Bacrot, Etienne        2705  ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * 0  5     15
14 Inarkiev, Ernesto      2684  ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 1 *  5     15

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links