In the tournament, which was played in the knockout system , 128 qualified players of the world's best took part. The two finalists Teymur Rəcəbov and Ding Liren qualified for the 2020 Candidates Tournament , in which the challenger for the 2020 World Chess Championship will be determined.
Seven rounds were played in the knockout system. This means that the winner of a pairing progressed to the next round, while the loser was eliminated. A mini match was held in each pairing. This consisted of two classic games on consecutive days with swapped colors and - if necessary - a tiebreak on the third day. The classic games had a time limit of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a time credit of 30 seconds per move (from the first move). If there was then a tie, a mini-match with two rapid chess games (25 minutes for the whole game + 10 seconds time credit per move) was played in the tie-break . If there was another tie, there was a second mini-match in blitz chess (10 min + 10 s per move) and, if necessary, a third mini-match (5 min + 3 s per move). If no decision was made after these three mini-matches, the winner was determined in an Armageddon game .
As an innovation compared to the three previously held World Cup tournaments, a match between the two losers in the semi-finals for third place took place parallel to the final competition. As in the final, four tournament games were played; in the event of a tie, a tie-break follows the same rules as in the previous rounds.