There were few major upsets in round one of the FIDE Chess World Cup, as the top 14 seeds have all advanced to the second round in their quest to earn a spot in the next Candidates Tournament. The World Cup is a 128-player knockout event, with players facing off in mini-matches (in the early rounds, just two games) to decide who advances. In the end, only one player will earn the Candidates invite.
While the top names at the tournament have avoided early upsets, there were a few notable names that won't be advancing. Sergei Movsesian fell 1.5-0.5 to China's Yu Yangyi, while both Leinier Dominguez Perez and David Navara were forced to rapid playoffs by their opponents (David Smerdon and Darwin Laylo respectively). The results for American players were mixed; Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk have advanced to the next round, while Alexander Shabalov, Yuri Shulman, and Varuzhan Akobian will be playing rapid chess tomorrow to try to sneak into round two. Young guns Robert Hess and Ray Robson have been elimination, as have Alexander Ivanov, Josh Friedel and Jan Ehlvest.
For players facing tiebreakers tomorrow, here's how they work. First, the players will face off in four game rapid matches (Game in 25 minutes, plus a 10 second increment). Should either player hold a lead at the end of this match, they are declared the winner. If not, a series of two-game blitz matches begin; as soon as a player wins one of these mini-matches, they advance through to the next round. If five matches (ten games) of blitz are played without a winner being declared, a final "Armageddon" game will be played to decide who advances to the second round.
Like I said before, while a knockout format like this isn't ideal for choosing a World Champion, it works perfectly for giving away one spot into the Candidates Tournament. Since there are other ways to qualify, nobody is forced to go though with the format if they feel it's a waste of their time, and with just one spot on the line, every match is critical. Even without most of the world's top players (who have already qualified for the world championship cycle, or have other tournament commitments) participating, this tournament is still worth watching and should produce plenty of drama and excitement over the next few weeks.
Comments
“Even without most of the world’s top players (who have already qualified for the world championship cycle, or have other tournament commitments) participating,”
23 of the top 35 are playing.
Good article. At the end of the second paragraph it says, “… Robert Hess and Ray Robson have been elimination, ” this, of course, should be “… have been eliminated,”. It’s just a simple typo I noticed.