The 2013 World Chess Championship is rapidly approaching, with both the Candidates Tournament and the World Chess Championship match taking place this year. The match will feature current champion Viswanathan Anand taking on Magnus Carlsen, who was selected from the 2013 Candidates Tournament. Here's a rundown of what you can expect to see in World Chess Championship action in 2013.
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament for the 2013 World Chess Championship will be taking place from March 15 to April 1, 2013, in London, England. Eight players have qualified to be a part of tournament, which will take place in a double round-robin format. Only the top scorer will survive, advancing to the World Championship match. In the case of a tie, rapid playoffs will be held on April 2.
Players were chosen for the Candidates Tournament in a variety of ways. Here's a quick rundown of the manner in which players were selected, as well as the players who qualifier via each method:
- The loser of the 2012 World Chess Championship was automatically qualified for the 2013 Candidates Tournament. In this case, that was Boris Gelfand.
- The top three finishers at the 2011 Chess World Cup were guaranteed spots in the 2013 Candidates Tournament. Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Vassily Ivanchuk all qualified in this manner.
- Next, the top three players by rating - averaging their ratings on the July 2011 and January 2012 FIDE rating lists - who had not already been invited to the tournament were automatically issued invitations. These players were Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik.
- Finally, the tournament organizing committee was allowed to select one additional player with a rating of 2700 or higher to fill the final spot in the tournament. The tournament committee selected Teimour Radjabov for this position.
The Candidates Tournament was won by Magnus Carlsen, who scored 8.5/13 to finish equal first with Vladimir Kramnik. Carlsen won the tournament based on the fact that he had scored more wins during the tournament, which was the second tiebreak after head-to-head results (Carlsen and Kramnik drew both of the games they played against each other).
World Championship Match
The World Chess Championship match will be held in October and November of 2013. At the moment, the exact dates of the match are unknown, and the venue has not been chosen. Originally, it was expected that Chennai, India would have the rights to organize the match. However, the All India Chess Federation did not submit a proposal to organize the match in the three-month window afforded to them. This means that AGON, the firm that has obtained the rights to organize the championship cycle, will ultimately choose the venue and dates for the match.
