The Chess World Cup 2019 was a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, from 9 September to 4 October 2019.[1] It was won by Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimour Radjabov. He and the runner-up, Ding Liren, both qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2021. It was the 8th edition of the Chess World Cup.

FIDE Chess World Cup 2019
Teimour Radjabov, the winner of the 2019 FIDE World Cup.
Tournament information
SportChess
LocationKhanty-Mansiysk, Russia
Dates9 September 2019–4 October 2019
AdministratorFIDE
Tournament
format(s)
Single-elimination tournament
Host(s)Chess Federation of Russia
Final positions
ChampionAzerbaijan Teimour Radjabov
Runner-upChina Ding Liren
← 2017
2021 →

Levon Aronian, the winner of the Chess World Cup 2017, advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on tiebreaks. Vachier-Lagrave was eliminated by Radjabov in the semi-finals, but defeated Yu Yangyi to claim 3rd place.

Bidding process

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There was only one bid received for the combined FIDE World Cup and Olympiad events, which was done by the Yugra Chess Federation.[2]

Format

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The tournament was a 7-round knockout event. The matches from round 1 to round 6 consisted of two classical games with a time control of 90 minutes per 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move. The finals and the match for the third place consisted of four classical games.[3]

If the score is tied after the classical games, rapid and, if necessary, blitz tiebreaks are played the next day. Two games are played with a time control of 25 minutes per game plus 10 seconds increment. In the case of a tie, they are followed by two games with a time control of 10 minutes per game plus 10 seconds increment. If the score is still tied, two blitz games follow (5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment). If the score is tied 4–4 after all these games, a single "Armageddon" game is played: the player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the colour; White has 5 minutes per game and Black has 4 minutes, with an increment of 2 seconds per move starting from move 61, and White needs a win to advance to the next round; Black advances if they win or the game is drawn.[3]

The two top finishers qualified for the 2020 Candidates Tournament.[4] The rules in fact specified that it would be the top two finishers other than Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, because Carlsen as World Champion did not play in the Candidates, and Caruana had already qualified for the Candidates. The rule was introduced because the World Champion and the previous challenger unexpectedly signed up for the previous edition Chess World Cup 2017. This time, though, Carlsen and Caruana both declined their invitations to the World Cup, so the qualifiers are simply the two finalists.

Schedule

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Each of the first six rounds took three days: one day each for the two regular time limit games and then a third day for tiebreaks, if required. The final round has four days of regular time limit games and then a fifth day for tiebreaks, if required.[3]

  • Round 1: 10 September – 12 September
  • Round 2: 13 September – 15 September
  • Round 3: 16 September – 18 September
  • Rest day: 19 September
  • Round 4: 20 September – 22 September
  • Round 5: 23 September – 25 September
  • Round 6: 26 September – 28 September
  • Rest day: 29 September
  • Final and play-off for third place: 30 September – 4 October

Prize money

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The total prize fund was US$1,600,000, with the first prize of US$110,000.[3]

Round (US$) Prize received (US$)Total
Round 1 64 × 6,000 384,000
Round 2 32 × 10,000 320,000
Round 3 16 × 16,000 256,000
Round 4 8 × 25,000 200,000
Round 5 4 × 35,000 140,000
4-th place 50,000 50,000
3-rd place 60,000 60,000
Runner-up 80,000 80,000
Winner 110,000 110,000
Total (US$) 1,600,000

Participants

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The participants[5] were seeded by their FIDE rating of August 2019. All players are grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.

Number Name Country Rating Qualification path
1 Ding Liren   China 2805 WC
2 Anish Giri   Netherlands 2779 R
3 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave   France 2778 WC
4 Wesley So   United States 2776 WC
5 Ian Nepomniachtchi   Russia 2774 R
6 Levon Aronian   Armenia 2765 WC
7 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov   Azerbaijan 2764 R
8 Leinier Domínguez   United States 2763 Z2.1
9 Alexander Grischuk   Russia 2759 R
10 Teimour Radjabov   Azerbaijan 2758 R
11 Vladislav Artemiev   Russia 2757 E19
12 Yu Yangyi   China 2752 R
13 Sergey Karjakin   Russia 2750 R
14 Hikaru Nakamura   United States 2743 Z2.1
15 Dmitry Andreikin   Russia 2743 R
16 Radosław Wojtaszek   Poland 2739 E18
17 Pentala Harikrishna   India 2738 R
18 Jan-Krzysztof Duda   Poland 2730 R
19 Peter Svidler   Russia 2729 R
20 Nikita Vitiugov   Russia 2728 R
21 Wei Yi   China 2727 AS18
22 Lê Quang Liêm   Vietnam 2726 AS18
23 David Navara   Czech Republic 2724 E18
24 Bu Xiangzhi   China 2721 R
25 Wang Hao   China 2720 R
26 Sam Shankland   United States 2713 AM18
27 Maxim Matlakov   Russia 2710 E18
28 Evgeny Tomashevsky   Russia 2706 R
29 Vidit Gujrathi   India 2705 R
30 Dmitry Jakovenko   Russia 2704 R
31 Jeffery Xiong   United States 2703 Z2.1
32 Alireza Firouzja   Iran 2702 AS19
33 Daniil Dubov   Russia 2699 E19
34 Bassem Amin   Egypt 2692 AF
35 Gawain Jones   England 2692 E18
36 Nils Grandelius   Sweden 2691 E18
37 Michael Adams   England 2690 R
38 Boris Gelfand   Israel 2686 E19
39 Jorge Cori   Peru 2686 AM18
40 Maxim Rodshtein   Israel 2684 E19
41 Ernesto Inarkiev   Russia 2682 E18
42 Luke McShane   England 2682 E18
43 Anton Korobov   Ukraine 2679 E18
44 David Antón Guijarro   Spain 2678 E18
45 Arkadij Naiditsch   Azerbaijan 2675 R
46 Ruslan Ponomariov   Ukraine 2675 E19
47 Tamir Nabaty   Israel 2673 E18
48 Vladimir Fedoseev   Russia 2671 R
49 Kirill Alekseenko   Russia 2668 ON
50 Ferenc Berkes   Hungary 2666 E19
51 Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu   Germany 2666 E19
52 Samuel Sevian   United States 2665 Z2.1
53 Baskaran Adhiban   India 2665 ACP
54 Ivan Cheparinov   Georgia 2663 E18
55 Sanan Sjugirov   Russia 2662 E18
56 Ivan Šarić   Croatia 2660 E18
57 Kacper Piorun   Poland 2660 E19
58 Rustam Kasimdzhanov   Uzbekistan 2657 Z3.4
59 Parham Maghsoodloo   Iran 2656 J18
60 Alexey Sarana   Russia 2655 E18
61 Anton Demchenko   Russia 2655 E18
62 Igor Kovalenko   Latvia 2654 PN
63 Benjamin Gledura   Hungary 2654 E19
64 Sergei Movsesian   Armenia 2654 E19
65 Grigoriy Oparin   Russia 2654 E19
66 Evgeniy Najer   Russia 2653 E18
67 Constantin Lupulescu   Romania 2652 E19
68 Robert Hovhannisyan   Armenia 2650 E18
69 Alexandr Predke   Russia 2650 E19
70 Maksim Chigaev   Russia 2643 ON
71 Evgeny Bareev   Canada 2643 Z2.2
72 Nijat Abasov   Azerbaijan 2640 E18
73 Benjamin Bok   Netherlands 2640 E18
74 Sandro Mareco   Argentina 2640 Z2.5
75 Ahmed Adly   Egypt 2636 Z4.2
76 Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli   Venezuela 2635 AM19
77 Aryan Tari   Norway 2634 J17
78 Mircea Pârligras   Romania 2633 E18
79 Rinat Jumabayev   Kazakhstan 2633 Z3.4
80 Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn   Vietnam 2631 AS18
81 Surya Shekhar Ganguly   India 2630 AS18
82 S. P. Sethuraman   India 2630 AS19
83 Andrey Esipenko   Russia 2625 E19
84 Niclas Huschenbeth   Germany 2620 E19
85 S.L. Narayanan   India 2618 AS19
86 Abhijeet Gupta   India 2616 AS19
87 Neuris Delgado Ramirez   Paraguay 2612 AM19
88 Karthikeyan Murali   India 2612 AS19
89 Mateusz Bartel   Poland 2612 E19
90 Nihal Sarin   India 2610 PN
91 Lu Shanglei   China 2610 Z3.5
92 Aravindh Chithambaram   India 2607 Z3.7
93 Aleksandr Rakhmanov   Russia 2606 E19
94 Diego Flores   Argentina 2604 AM18
95 Amin Tabatabaei   Iran 2601 AS18
96 Emilio Cordova   Peru 2599 AM18
97 Arman Pashikian   Armenia 2599 E18
98 Igor Lysyj   Russia 2596 E19
99 Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara   Peru 2596 Z2.4
100 Alan Pichot   Argentina 2596 AM19
101 Nikita Petrov   Russia 2595 E19
102 Nodirbek Abdusattorov   Uzbekistan 2594 PN
103 Eltaj Safarli   Azerbaijan 2593 E18
104 Aleksei Pridorozhni   Russia 2591 ON
105 Xu Xiangyu   China 2584 Z3.5
106 Daniil Yuffa   Russia 2571 E18
107 Aleksej Aleksandrov   Belarus 2571 E19
108 Miguel Santos Ruiz   Spain 2567 E18
109 Frode Urkedal   Norway 2566 PN
110 Carlos Daniel Albornoz Cabrera   Cuba 2566 Z2.3
111 Cristobal Henriquez Villagra   Chile 2562 Z2.5
112 Yuri Gonzalez Vidal   Cuba 2554 AM19
113 Johan-Sebastian Christiansen   Norway 2554 E19
114 Krikor Mekhitarian   Brazil 2554 Z2.4
115 Bilel Bellahcene   Algeria 2550 Z4.1
116 Susanto Megaranto   Indonesia 2545 Z3.3
117 Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami   Iran 2539 Z3.1
118 Ilia Iljiushenok   Russia 2533 ON
119 Helgi Dam Ziska   Faroe Islands 2533 PN
120 Paulius Pultinevičius, IM   Lithuania 2485 E19
121 Alder Escobar Forero   Colombia 2477 Z2.3
122 Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo, IM   Madagascar 2438 Z4.3
123 Essam El Gindy   Egypt 2423 AF
124 Sugar Gan-Erdene, no title   Mongolia 2408 Z3.3
125 Sergio Duran Vega, IM   Costa Rica 2395 AM19
126 Daniel Anwuli, IM   Nigeria 2284 Z4.4
127 Mohammad Fahad Rahman, FM   Bangladesh 2250 Z3.2
128 Shaun Press, FM   Papua New Guinea 1954 Z3.6

Qualification paths

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Replacements

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Results, rounds 1–4

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Section 1

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
1   Ding Liren 2
128   Shaun Press 0
1   Ding Liren
64   Sergei Movsesian
65   Grigoriy Oparin ½
64   Sergei Movsesian
1   Ding Liren 3
32   Alireza Firouzja 1
33   Daniil Dubov
96   Emilio Cordova ½
33   Daniil Dubov ½
32   Alireza Firouzja
97   Arman Pashikian ½
32   Alireza Firouzja
1   Ding Liren 3
49   Kirill Alekseenko 1
17   Pentala Harikrishna 2
112   Yuri Gonzalez Vidal 0
17   Pentala Harikrishna
48   Vladimir Fedoseev ½
81   Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2
48   Vladimir Fedoseev 4
17   Pentala Harikrishna 0
49   Kirill Alekseenko 2
49   Kirill Alekseenko
80   Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn ½
49   Kirill Alekseenko
113   Johan-Sebastian Christiansen
113   Johan-Sebastian Christiansen 2
16   Radosław Wojtaszek 0

Section 2

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
9   Alexander Grischuk 2
120   Paulius Pultinevičius 0
9   Alexander Grischuk
73   Benjamin Bok
73   Benjamin Bok
56   Ivan Šarić
9   Alexander Grischuk 2
105   Xu Xiangyu 0
41   Ernesto Inarkiev
88   Karthikeyan Murali ½
41   Ernesto Inarkiev ½
105   Xu Xiangyu
105   Xu Xiangyu
24   Bu Xiangzhi
9   Alexander Grischuk
8   Leinier Domínguez
25   Wang Hao
104   Aleksei Pridorozhni
25   Wang Hao
40   Maxim Rodshtein ½
89   Mateusz Bartel ½
40   Maxim Rodshtein
25   Wang Hao
8   Leinier Domínguez
57   Kacper Piorun
72   Nijat Abasov
72   Nijat Abasov 1
8   Leinier Domínguez 3
121   Alder Escobar Forero 0
8   Leinier Domínguez 2

Section 3

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
5   Ian Nepomniachtchi 2
124   Sugar Gan-Erdene 0
5   Ian Nepomniachtchi
69   Alexandr Predke ½
69   Alexandr Predke
60   Alexey Sarana
5   Ian Nepomniachtchi 5
28   Evgeny Tomashevsky 3
37   Michael Adams
92   Aravindh Chithambaram
92   Aravindh Chithambaram ½
28   Evgeny Tomashevsky
101   Nikita Petrov
28   Evgeny Tomashevsky
5   Ian Nepomniachtchi ½
12   Yu Yangyi
21   Wei Yi
108   Miguel Santos Ruiz ½
21   Wei Yi
44   David Antón Guijarro
85   S.L. Narayanan
44   David Antón Guijarro
21   Wei Yi
12   Yu Yangyi
53   Baskaran Adhiban
76   Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli ½
53   Baskaran Adhiban
12   Yu Yangyi
117   Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami
12   Yu Yangyi

Section 4

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
13   Sergey Karjakin
116   Susanto Megaranto ½
13   Sergey Karjakin 2
52   Samuel Sevian 0
77   Aryan Tari ½
52   Samuel Sevian
13   Sergey Karjakin ½
20   Nikita Vitiugov
45   Arkadij Naiditsch 0
84   Niclas Huschenbeth 2
84   Niclas Huschenbeth 1
20   Nikita Vitiugov 3
109   Frode Urkedal ½
20   Nikita Vitiugov
20   Nikita Vitiugov
4   Wesley So ½
29   Vidit Gujrathi
100   Alan Pichot ½
29   Vidit Gujrathi
93   Aleksandr Rakhmanov ½
93   Aleksandr Rakhmanov
36   Nils Grandelius ½
29   Vidit Gujrathi ½
4   Wesley So
61   Anton Demchenko
68   Robert Hovhannisyan ½
61   Anton Demchenko ½
4   Wesley So
125   Sergio Duran Vega 0
4   Wesley So 2

Section 5

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2
126   Daniel Anwuli 0
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2
62   Igor Kovalenko 0
67   Constantin Lupulescu
62   Igor Kovalenko
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
30   Dmitry Jakovenko
35   Gawain Jones
94   Diego Flores ½
35   Gawain Jones 1
30   Dmitry Jakovenko 3
99   Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara 0
30   Dmitry Jakovenko 2
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
19   Peter Svidler ½
19   Peter Svidler
110   Carlos Daniel Albornoz Cabrera ½
19   Peter Svidler 3
83   Andrey Esipenko 1
83   Andrey Esipenko
46   Ruslan Ponomariov ½
19   Peter Svidler
51   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
51   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
78   Mircea Pârligras
51   Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
14   Hikaru Nakamura ½
115   Bilel Bellahcene 1
14   Hikaru Nakamura 3

Section 6

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
11   Vladislav Artemiev
118   Ilia Iljiushenok ½
11   Vladislav Artemiev
54   Ivan Cheparinov ½
75   Ahmed Adly ½
54   Ivan Cheparinov
11   Vladislav Artemiev
22   Lê Quang Liêm
43   Anton Korobov 4
86   Abhijeet Gupta 2
43   Anton Korobov ½
22   Lê Quang Liêm
107   Aleksej Aleksandrov
22   Lê Quang Liêm
22   Lê Quang Liêm
6   Levon Aronian
27   Maxim Matlakov
102   Nodirbek Abdusattorov
27   Maxim Matlakov
38   Boris Gelfand
91   Lu Shanglei 2
38   Boris Gelfand 4
27   Maxim Matlakov ½
6   Levon Aronian
59   Parham Maghsoodloo 2
70   Maksim Chigaev 0
59   Parham Maghsoodloo ½
6   Levon Aronian
123   Essam El Gindy ½
6   Levon Aronian

Section 7

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
7   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2
122   Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo 0
7   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
58   Rustam Kasimdzhanov ½
71   Evgeny Bareev ½
58   Rustam Kasimdzhanov
7   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
103   Eltaj Safarli ½
39   Jorge Cori 0
90   Nihal Sarin 2
90   Nihal Sarin
103   Eltaj Safarli
103   Eltaj Safarli
26   Sam Shankland
7   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
10   Teimour Radjabov
23   David Navara ½
106   Daniil Yuffa
106   Daniil Yuffa 5
42   Luke McShane 3
87   Neuris Delgado Ramirez
42   Luke McShane
106   Daniil Yuffa ½
10   Teimour Radjabov
55   Sanan Sjugirov
74   Sandro Mareco
55   Sanan Sjugirov
10   Teimour Radjabov
119   Helgi Dam Ziska ½
10   Teimour Radjabov

Section 8

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First round Quarter-finals Third round Fourth round
            
15   Dmitry Andreikin
114   Krikor Mekhitarian
15   Dmitry Andreikin
79   Rinat Jumabayev ½
79   Rinat Jumabayev
50   Ferenc Berkes ½
15   Dmitry Andreikin ½
18   Jan-Krzysztof Duda
47   Tamir Nabaty 3
82   S. P. Sethuraman 1
47   Tamir Nabaty 0
18   Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2
111   Cristobal Henriquez Villagra ½
18   Jan-Krzysztof Duda
18   Jan-Krzysztof Duda
31   Jeffery Xiong
31   Jeffery Xiong 2
98   Igor Lysyj 0
31   Jeffery Xiong 3
95   Amin Tabatabaei 1
95   Amin Tabatabaei
34   Bassem Amin
31   Jeffery Xiong
2   Anish Giri
63   Benjamin Gledura ½
66   Evgeniy Najer
66   Evgeniy Najer 4
2   Anish Giri 5
127   Mohammad Fahad Rahman 0
2   Anish Giri 2

Results, rounds 5–7

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Quarterfinals Semifinals Final (best of 4)
                    
1   Ding Liren ½ 1
9   Alexander Grischuk ½ 0 ½
1   Ding Liren ½ ½
12   Yu Yangyi ½ ½ ½
12   Yu Yangyi ½ ½ 4 5
20   Nikita Vitiugov ½ ½ 3 4
1   Ding Liren ½ 1 0 ½ 2 4
10   Teimour Radjabov ½ 0 1 ½ 4 6
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave ½ ½
6   Levon Aronian ½ ½ ½
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave ½ 0 ½ Third place
10   Teimour Radjabov ½ 1
10   Teimour Radjabov ½ 1 12   Yu Yangyi ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 2
31   Jeffery Xiong ½ 0 ½ 3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave ½ ½ ½ ½ 2 4

Third place

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Seed Name Aug 2019 rating 1 2 3 4 R1 R2 Total
12   Yu Yangyi 2752 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 2
3   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2778 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 4

Finals

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Seed Name Aug 2019 rating 1 2 3 4 R1 R2 R3 R4 B1 B2 Total
1   Ding Liren 2805 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 4
10   Teimour Radjabov 2758 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6

References

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  1. ^ FIDE Calendar 2019. FIDE.
  2. ^ "FIDE and Ugra CF signed an agreement on Chess Olympiad 2020". FIDE. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Regulations for the FIDE World Cup 2019" (PDF). FIDE.
  4. ^ "The Road to the 2020 Candidates". Chess News. ChessBase. 23 January 2019.
  5. ^ "World Cup 2019 Pairings". FIDE. 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ "List of the Qualifiers" (PDF). FIDE. 2019-07-24.
  7. ^ RS, Prasad (12 August 2019). "Viswanathan Anand to skip World Cup". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  8. ^ Big Beasts Still Alive After First Round of World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Ian Rogers, Lichess, 12-Sep-2019
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