Chess World Cup 2017

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2017 World Chess Cup (officially: FIDE World Cup 2017 ) took place in Georgia from September 2 to 27, 2017 . The venue was Tbilisi .

In the tournament, which was played in the knockout system , 128 qualified players of the world's best took part. Lewon Aronjan and Ding Liren played in the final . The Armenian won the match 4-2 and with it the tournament. Both were automatically qualified for the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin .

Attendees

The 128 participants qualified in various ways:

The reigning world champion of women, Tan Zhongyi , would have been allowed to start, but decided not to participate. According to the FIDE regulations, a player moved up based on the Elo number.

The field of participants was extremely strong. Of the 20 best players in the current world rankings, only one, Wesselin Topalow (No. 16), was not represented. 120 of the 128 players were grandmasters , six international masters, one FIDE master and one player without a title. In principle, the tournament was open to women and men alike. Even so, only two women took part in the 2017 World Chess Cup: Hou Yifan (PR China) and Nana Dsagnidze (Georgia). The youngest player was Anton Smirnow from Australia (16 years), the oldest participant Jóhann Hjartarson from Iceland (54 years). Players from 48 nations from all over the world took part. The Russian Chess Federation was most strongly represented with 20 participants.

Competition mode

The World Chess Cup is held as a knockout tournament. This means that one-on-one fights are played in each round, the winners of which qualify for the next round, while the losers are eliminated. These duels each consist of two games with reversed colors, with the exception of the final, which is played over four games. In these games, the time to think about is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with each player receiving a time credit of 30 seconds per move. If there is a tie after the duel, the tie-break decides : First, two rapid chess games are played (25 min + 10 s per move). If there is still no winner after that, two more rapid chess games follow with a shorter reflection time (10 min + 10 s per move). If no decision has been made after that either, two Biltz games are played (5 min + 3 s per move). If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined in an Armageddon game .

In addition to the Grand Prix and the world rankings, the World Chess Cup was a further opportunity to qualify for the 2018 Candidates Tournament. The future challenger for the world chess championship is determined in the candidates tournament. The regulations stipulated that both finalists of the World Chess Cup qualify for the candidates tournament. This did not apply to two of the participants: the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen was unable to take part in the candidates 'tournament as defending champion and Sergej Karjakin was already set for the candidates' tournament as vice world champion. If one of the two had reached the final, both losers in the semi-finals would have had to play a match for third place, according to the same rules as the final. If both Carlsen and Karjakin had reached the final, there would be no need for a match for third place and both losers in the semifinals would have qualified for the candidates' tournament.

Tournament course

The opening round saw few surprises. The respective favorite prevailed on most boards. 22 of the 64 duels had to be decided in the tie-break. The biggest surprises were probably the elimination of the two Ukrainians Pawel Eljanow and Ruslan Ponomarjow against the significantly lower seeded players Alex Lenderman (USA) and SP Sethuraman (India).

In round 2, however, some prominent players had to admit defeat to supposedly weaker opponents. Almost at the same time, the favorites Viswanathan Anand (against the Canadian Anton Kovalyov) and Sergej Karjakin (against his compatriot Daniil Dubow ) were eliminated. Anand played very sharply in the first game with the white pieces and sacrificed an entire piece. However, he received too little compensation for this, lost this game and could not turn the tide with Black the following day. The dying of favorites continued in the tie-breaks on the sixth day of the tournament: Harikrishna (India) lost to his compatriot Sethuraman, Yu Yangyi (China) to Baadur Dschobava (Georgia), Wei Yi (China) to Richárd Rapport (Hungary) and Məmmədyarov (Azerbaijan) versus Kusubov (Ukraine). The second round also meant the end for the last remaining German participant, Matthias Blübaum. Blübaum managed to make the two long games against Wesley So evenly balanced and also held up in the first two rapid games. In the end, however, he had to admit defeat to the number two seeded American.

At the beginning of the third round there was a scandal: Kovalyov, who had previously caused a sensation with his victories against Akobjan and Anand, left the tournament arena and did not play against Rodshtein after an argument with the referee team. The occasion was an alleged dress code violation. Kovalyov had appeared in the tournament hall in checkered shorts, which was criticized by the referees, although the same shorts were not objected to in the first two rounds. Another dispute with the organizer Zurab Asmaiparashvili followed. Kovalyov said he had gone after Asmaiparaschwili had said he look like a gypsy from ( "Because you look like a gipsy!") . The game was rated as a non-fighting victory for Rodhstein. The Association of Chess Professionals vigorously protested against Asmaiparashvili's actions and emphasized that such a scandal could not be accepted immediately before the start of the round.

The departure of Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana, Kramnik and Nepomnjaschtschi caused just as much attention. With that - together with the already eliminated Karjakin and Anand - most of the top favorites were already out of the race after lap three. Particularly noteworthy is the departure of the world champion: Carlsen (Elo: 2822) played against Bu Xiangzhi (2710). Although Carlsen was the only tournament participant to have reached the 3rd round with a "clean slate" (four wins in four games), he lost the first game in round 3 with the white pieces. The second leg ended in a draw. As a result, Bu Xiangzhi reached the round of 16, while the world number one and reigning world champion had to travel home. Carlsen had previously emphasized several times that he did not like the traditional method of determining the chess world champion and that he would prefer a mode of competition comparable to the World Cup instead.

In the round of 16 there was the first pairing between two top players: The current number 2 in the world, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, met number 9, Alexander Grishchuk. After a long and tough struggle, the French finally prevailed. One of the oldest players in the field, Vassyl Ivanchuk, showed a remarkable performance. After eliminating former world champion Wladimir Kramnik in the third round, he defeated Anish Giri in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, however, he failed to Levon Aronjan.

In the semifinals Lewon Aronjan met Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while Wesley So played against Ding Liren in the other match. All four long games ended in a draw. Aronjan and Vachier-Lagrave drew in both games after just a few, quickly played moves and saved up their energies for the subsequent tie-break. So and Ding spent considerably more time on the board, but still had to go into "extra time", in which Ding was able to prevail after four games without ever actually being in danger. The other encounter was much more dramatic: In the first quick games, both players were able to win their game with White. This was followed by two draws. In the first blitz game, Aronjan was clearly on victory. But he missed the clear winning path and even had to fear defeat for a short time. In the end, there was an even women-pawn endgame and the players shook hands for a draw. In the second blitz game, too, all advantages were initially with Aronjan, but he again failed to convert these advantages into a victory. So a game of Armageddon had to make the decision. The lot left Aronjan with the choice of colors, and he opted for the white stones. He chose the same opening as in the first blitz game, but was happier this time and checkmated Vachier-Lagrave in a queen-on-rook endgame.

The final was Levon Aronjan against Ding Liren. These two players had also qualified for the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin. Although Aronjan was able to achieve a small advantage in most of the four long games, he did not manage to convert this into a victory. In the first rapid game of the tiebreak, the Armenian had the white pieces. He quickly managed to gain an advantage and build pressure against the opposing king. Ding gave up on train 30. In the following rapid game, Ding now had his back to the wall: Aronjan would be enough to win the tournament. Ding risked a lot, but Aronjan defended himself brilliantly and was even able to turn the tables in the end. He won the game and with it the tournament.

Results of rounds 1-4

Section 1

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
1 NorwayNorway Magnus Carlsen 2                  
128 NigeriaNigeria Oluwafemi Balogun 0  
1 NorwayNorway Magnus Carlsen 2
  64 RussiaRussia Alexei Drejew 0  
64 RussiaRussia Alexei Drejew 2
 
65 ParaguayParaguay Axel Bachmann 0  
1 NorwayNorway Magnus Carlsen ½
  33 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Bu Xiangzhi 1½  
32 FranceFrance Étienne Bacrot 2½      
 
97 BrazilBrazil Alexandr Fier 1½  
32 FranceFrance Étienne Bacrot 1½
  33 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Bu Xiangzhi 2½  
33 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Bu Xiangzhi 2
 
96 ArgentinaArgentina Diego Flores 0  
33 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Bu Xiangzhi 1
  16 RussiaRussia Pyotr Swidler 3
16 RussiaRussia Pyotr Swidler 2            
 
113 UzbekistanUzbekistan Jahongir Vakhidov 0  
16 RussiaRussia Pyotr Swidler 2½
  80 HungaryHungary Viktor Erdős 1½  
49 EgyptEgypt Bass amine 2½
 
80 HungaryHungary Viktor Erdős 3½  
16 RussiaRussia Pyotr Swidler 1½
  48 United StatesUnited States Alexander Onischuk ½  
17th PolandPoland Radosław Wojtaszek 1½      
 
112 BrazilBrazil Felipe El Debs ½  
17th PolandPoland Radosław Wojtaszek 1½
  48 United StatesUnited States Alexander Onischuk 2½  
48 United StatesUnited States Alexander Onischuk 2
 
81 United StatesUnited States Jaroslaw Scherebuch 0  

Section 2

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
8th FranceFrance Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1½                  
121 TajikistanTajikistan Muhammed Khusenkhojaev ½  
8th FranceFrance Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1½
  57 RussiaRussia Boris Grachev ½  
57 RussiaRussia Boris Grachev 2½
 
72 ArmeniaArmenia Hrant Melkumjan 1½  
8th FranceFrance Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2½
  104 United StatesUnited States Alex Lenderman 1½  
25th UkraineUkraine Pavel Elyanov 0      
 
104 United StatesUnited States Alex Lenderman 2  
104 United StatesUnited States Alex Lenderman 1½
  89 NorwayNorway Aryan Tari ½  
40 EnglandEngland David Howell 2½
 
89 NorwayNorway Aryan Tari 3½  
8th FranceFrance Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 3½
  9 RussiaRussia Alexander Grishchuk 2½
9 RussiaRussia Alexander Grishchuk 2            
 
120 EgyptEgypt Essam El Gindy 0  
9 RussiaRussia Alexander Grishchuk 2½
  73 PeruPeru Jorge Cori 1½  
56 EnglandEngland Gawain Jones ½
 
73 PeruPeru Jorge Cori 1½  
9 RussiaRussia Alexander Grishchuk 3½
  24 Czech RepublicCzech Republic David Navara 2½  
24 Czech RepublicCzech Republic David Navara 2      
 
105 IcelandIceland Jóhann Hjartarson 0  
24 Czech RepublicCzech Republic David Navara 3
  41 BulgariaBulgaria Ivan Cheparinov 1  
41 BulgariaBulgaria Ivan Cheparinov 1½
 
88 GreeceGreece Dimitrios Mastrovasilis ½  

Section 3

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
4th RussiaRussia Vladimir Kramnik 1½                  
125 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Changren Dai ½  
4th RussiaRussia Vladimir Kramnik 1½
  68 RussiaRussia Anton Demchenko ½  
61 UkraineUkraine Oleksandr Areshchenko 2
 
68 RussiaRussia Anton Demchenko 4th  
4th RussiaRussia Vladimir Kramnik ½
  29 UkraineUkraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 1½  
29 UkraineUkraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 3      
 
100 KazakhstanKazakhstan Murtas Qashyghaliyev 1  
29 UkraineUkraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 3½
  36 PolandPoland Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2½  
36 PolandPoland Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2
 
93 GeorgiaGeorgia Lewan Panzulaia 0  
29 UkraineUkraine Vasyl Ivanchuk 1½
  13 NetherlandsNetherlands Anish Giri ½
13 NetherlandsNetherlands Anish Giri 1½            
 
116 GeorgiaGeorgia Nana Dzagnidze ½  
13 NetherlandsNetherlands Anish Giri 4th
  52 RussiaRussia Alexander Motylijow 2  
52 RussiaRussia Alexander Motylev 1½
 
77 United StatesUnited States Jeffery Xiong ½  
13 NetherlandsNetherlands Anish Giri 4th
  84 IndiaIndia SP Sethuraman 2  
20th IndiaIndia P. Harikrishna 3½      
 
109 CubaCuba Yuri González Vidal 2½  
20th IndiaIndia P. Harikrishna 1½
  84 IndiaIndia SP Sethuraman 2½  
45 UkraineUkraine Ruslan Ponomarev ½
 
84 IndiaIndia SP Sethuraman 1½  

Section 4

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 2                  
124 South AfricaSouth Africa Daniel Cawdery 0  
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 4th
  60 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Hou Yifan 2  
60 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Hou Yifan 1½
 
69 PolandPoland Kacper Piorun ½  
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 4½
  28 RussiaRussia Maxim Matlakov 3½  
28 RussiaRussia Maxim Matlakov 1½      
 
101 PhilippinesPhilippines Julio Catalino Sadorra ½  
28 RussiaRussia Maxim Matlakov 5
  37 RussiaRussia Dmitri Andreikin 3  
37 RussiaRussia Dmitri Andreikin 3
 
93 RussiaRussia Alexei Goganov 1  
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 1½
  53 RussiaRussia Daniil Dubov ½
12 RussiaRussia Sergei Karjakin 3            
 
117 AustraliaAustralia Anton Smirnov 1  
12 RussiaRussia Sergei Karjakin ½
  53 RussiaRussia Daniil Dubov 1½  
53 RussiaRussia Daniil Dubov 3½
 
76 GermanyGermany Daniel Fridman 2½  
53 RussiaRussia Daniil Dubov 1½
  44 RussiaRussia Vladislav Artemyev ½  
21st AzerbaijanAzerbaijan Teymur Rəcəbov 1½      
 
108 FaroeseFaroe Islands Helgi Ziska ½  
21st AzerbaijanAzerbaijan Teymur Rəcəbov 3½
  44 RussiaRussia Vladislav Artemyev 4½  
44 RussiaRussia Vladislav Artemyev 2
 
85 NetherlandsNetherlands Benjamin Bok 0  

Section 5

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
2 United StatesUnited States Wesley So 1½                  
127 ColombiaColombia Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo ½  
2 United StatesUnited States Wesley So 4th
  66 GermanyGermany Matthias Bluebaum 2  
63 ArgentinaArgentina Sandro Mareco ½
 
66 GermanyGermany Matthias Bluebaum 1½  
2 United StatesUnited States Wesley So 1½
  31 SpainSpain Francisco Vallejo Pons ½  
31 SpainSpain Francisco Vallejo Pons 2½      
 
98 IndiaIndia Murali Karthikeyan 1½  
31 SpainSpain Francisco Vallejo Pons 1½
  34 RussiaRussia Yevgeny Tomaschewski ½  
34 RussiaRussia Yevgeny Tomaschewski 2½
 
95 RussiaRussia Mikhail Antipov 1½  
2 United StatesUnited States Wesley So 2½
  47 GeorgiaGeorgia Baadur Jobava 1½
15th RussiaRussia Jan Nepomnyashchi 3½            
 
114 CroatiaCroatia Mladen Palac 2½  
15th RussiaRussia Jan Nepomnyashchi 2½
  50 IndiaIndia B. Adhiban 1½  
50 IndiaIndia B. Adhiban 3½
 
79 VietnamVietnam Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn 2½  
15th RussiaRussia Jan Nepomnyashchi 1½
  47 GeorgiaGeorgia Baadur Jobava 2½  
18th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Yu Yangyi 3      
 
111 IranIran Amirreza Pourramezanali 1  
18th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Yu Yangyi 2
  47 GeorgiaGeorgia Baadur Jobava 4th  
47 GeorgiaGeorgia Baadur Jobava 4½
 
82 SpainSpain Iván Salgado López 3½  

Section 6

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
7th United StatesUnited States Hikaru Nakamura 2                  
122 BangladeshBangladesh Al Rakib Mollah Abdullah 0  
7th United StatesUnited States Hikaru Nakamura 2½
  71 CubaCuba Lázaro Bruzón 1½  
58 SpainSpain David Antón Guijarro ½
 
71 CubaCuba Lázaro Bruzón 1½  
7th United StatesUnited States Hikaru Nakamura ½
  26th RussiaRussia Vladimir Fedoseyev 1½  
26th RussiaRussia Vladimir Fedoseyev 3      
 
103 CubaCuba Yusnel Bacallao Alonso 1  
26th RussiaRussia Vladimir Fedoseyev 1½
  39 RussiaRussia Ernesto Inarkiev ½  
39 RussiaRussia Ernesto Inarkiev 1½
 
90 GeorgiaGeorgia Micheil Mtschedlishvili ½  
26th RussiaRussia Vladimir Fedoseyev 3
  42 IsraelIsrael Maxim Rodshtein 1
10 IndiaIndia Viswanathan Anand 1½            
 
119 MalaysiaMalaysia Li Tian Yeoh ½  
10 IndiaIndia Viswanathan Anand ½
  74 CanadaCanada Anton Kovalyov 1½  
55 United StatesUnited States Varuzhan Akobian ½
 
74 CanadaCanada Anton Kovalyov 1½  
74 CanadaCanada Anton Kovalyov 0
  42 IsraelIsrael Maxim Rodshtein 2  
23 EnglandEngland Michael Adams 2½      
 
106 MongoliaMongolia Tsegmediin Battschuluun 1½  
23 EnglandEngland Michael Adams ½
  42 IsraelIsrael Maxim Rodshtein 1½  
42 IsraelIsrael Maxim Rodshtein 2½
 
87 ArmeniaArmenia Robert Howhannisjan 1½  

Section 7

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
3 United StatesUnited States Fabiano Caruana 2                  
126 South AfricaSouth Africa Kenny Solomon 0  
3 United StatesUnited States Fabiano Caruana 4th
  67 SloveniaSlovenia Luka Lenič 2  
62 FranceFrance Laurent Fressinet 2
 
67 SloveniaSlovenia Luka Lenič 4th  
3 United StatesUnited States Fabiano Caruana 1½
  35 RussiaRussia Yevgeny Najer 2½  
30th RussiaRussia Nikita Vitjugov 1½      
 
99 EstoniaEstonia Kaido Külaots ½  
30th RussiaRussia Nikita Vitjugov 1
  35 RussiaRussia Yevgeny Najer 3  
35 RussiaRussia Yevgeny Najer 1½
 
94 BelarusBelarus Alexei Alexandrov ½  
35 RussiaRussia Yevgeny Najer 1½
  51 HungaryHungary Richárd Rapport 2½
14th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Wei Yi 2½            
 
115 CanadaCanada Bator Sambuev 1½  
14th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Wei Yi 1½
  51 HungaryHungary Richárd Rapport 2½  
51 HungaryHungary Richárd Rapport 2
 
78 PeruPeru Emilio Cordova 0  
51 HungaryHungary Richárd Rapport 2½
  19th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Li Chao 1½  
19th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Li Chao 1½      
 
110 ArgentinaArgentina Leandro Krysa ½  
19th China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Li Chao 2½
  87 United StatesUnited States Samuel Sevian 1½  
46 GermanyGermany Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 1½
 
87 United StatesUnited States Samuel Sevian 2½  

Section 8

  First round   Second round   Third round   Round of 16
                                     
6th AzerbaijanAzerbaijan Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov 1½                  
126 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Liu Guanchu ½  
6th AzerbaijanAzerbaijan Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov 1
  59 UkraineUkraine Yuri Kusubov 3  
59 UkraineUkraine Yuri Kusubov 1½
 
70 BelarusBelarus Syarhej Schyhalka ½  
59 UkraineUkraine Yuri Kusubov ½
  38 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Wang Hao 1½  
27 IsraelIsrael Boris Gelfand 1½      
 
102 BelarusBelarus Kiryl Stupak ½  
27 IsraelIsrael Boris Gelfand 1½
  38 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Wang Hao 2½  
38 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Wang Hao 1½
 
91 IndiaIndia Deep Sengupta ½  
38 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Wang Hao ½
  11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 1½
11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 1½            
 
118 AlgeriaAlgeria Mohamed Haddouche ½  
11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 2½
  54 UkraineUkraine Martyn Krawziw 1½  
54 UkraineUkraine Martyn Krawziw 1½
 
75 LatviaLatvia Ihor Kovalenko ½  
11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 2½
  43 IndiaIndia Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 1½  
22nd VietnamVietnam Lê Quang Liêm 1½      
 
107 GermanyGermany Vitaly Kunin ½  
22nd VietnamVietnam Lê Quang Liêm ½
  43 IndiaIndia Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 1½  
43 IndiaIndia Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 1½
 
86 ParaguayParaguay Neuris Delgado Ramírez ½  

Notes on rounds 1–4

  1. ↑ a b Scherebuch did not start because of an ongoing green card procedure in the USA. So Onischuk won his opening match without a fight.
  2. ↑ a b Kovalyov did not start after disputes with the referee team for the 3rd round. Both games were counted as non-fighting victories for Rodshtein.

Results rounds 5-7

  Quarter finals Semifinals final
                           
  16 RussiaRussia Pyotr Swidler 1½        
8th FranceFrance Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2½  
8th FranceFrance Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 4th
  5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 5  
29 UkraineUkraine Vasyl Ivanchuk ½
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 1½  
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 4th
  11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 2
2 United StatesUnited States Wesley So 1½    
26th RussiaRussia Vladimir Fedoseyev ½  
2 United StatesUnited States Wesley So 2½
  11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 3½  
51 HungaryHungary Richárd Rapport ½
  11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 1½  

final

Seat Surname Elo rating 1 2 3 4th R1 R2 Total
5 ArmeniaArmenia Levon Aronjan 2802 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 4th
11 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China Ding Liren 2771 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 2


Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schedule of the World Chess Cup. FIDE, accessed July 25, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b FIDE regulations , accessed on July 27, 2017
  3. ↑ List of FIDE participants , accessed on July 25, 2017
  4. ↑ List of participants on the official website of the organizer, accessed on September 6, 2017
  5. ↑ Pairing tree and seeding list , accessed on September 6, 2017
  6. ↑ Results on the official website of the event, accessed on September 6, 2017
  7. ↑ Peter Doggers: Dress Code Incident At World Cup: Kovalyov Forfeits , article on chess.com, accessed on September 9, 2017
  8. ↑ ACP Board: ACP protests on the ACP website, September 10, 2017.