Follow the World Cup in Baku

The 2015 Chess World Cup begins on September 11 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and the birthplace of the 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov.  A total of 128 participants have been paired much like college basketball's March Madness, with the top seeds facing the lowest rated in the first round.  Each round consists of two classical games (40/90, G/30, inc/30) followed by a third day of rapid and blitz tiebreaks (if necessary).

At the end of 7 rounds over 26 grueling days, the champion earns $96,000 and, perhaps more significantly, the top two qualify for the 2016 Candidates Tournament to determine the official challenger to Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Champion.  Can former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik win two World Cups in a row, or will one of the young superstars finish on top?

• Official Website
• Watch Live Games (start at 3:00am Pacific)
  
• World Cup Odds (match by match)

View from hotel in Baku. Credit: Caruana

Top 16 Seeds (with Live ratings)

• #1 Veselin Topalov (BUL) 2813
• #2 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2816
• #3 Fabiano Caruana (USA) 2796
• #4 Anish Giri (NED) 2798
• #5 Wesley So (USA) 2760
• #6 Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) 2777
• #7 Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2774
• #8 Ding Liren (CHN) 2782
• #9 Levon Aronian (ARM) 2784 eliminated in round 2
• #10 Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2748
• #11 Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2762
• #12 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2758
• #13 Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2741 eliminated in round 1
• #14 Pentala Harikrishna (IND) 2737 eliminated in round 2
• #15 Michael Adams (ENG) 2742
• #16 Peter Svidler (RUS) 2727

On one hand, three of the Top 5 seeds represent the USA.  On the other hand, there are six Russians among the Top 16 participants.  N.B.: The seeds reflect the August rating list, not the more current September list.

Nine Americans 

• #2 Hikaru Nakamura 2816 advanced to round 3
• #3 Fabiano Caruana 2796 advanced to round 3
• #5 Wesley So 2760 advanced to round 3
• #41 Ray Robson 2680 eliminated in round 1
• #47 Gata Kamsky 2680 eliminated in round 1
• #54 Alexander Onischuk 2662 eliminated in round 2 by #11 Karjakin (RUS)
• #63 Sam Shankland 2656 eliminated in round 2 by #2 Nakamura (USA)
• #79 Varuzhan Akobian 2635 eliminated in round 1
• #112 Sam Sevian 2556 eliminated in round 1 by #17 Radjabov (AZE)

The format of the World Cup favors many upsets, starting as early as the first round!  Even one miscalculation could mean a premature flight home.  Four years ago, local star Sam Shankland scored the upset of his life by eliminating the Hungarian super-GM Peter Leko!  The following young players are poised to defeat higher seeded opponents in Baku.

Fpawn Upset Watch List

• #22 Yu Yangyi (CHN) 2721 (age 21) advanced to round 3
• #24 Wei Yi (CHN) 2734 (age 16) advanced to round 3
• #45 Vladislav Artemiev (RUS) 2675 (age 17) eliminated in round 2
• #46 Hou Yifan (CHN) 2671 (age 21) eliminated in round 2
• #64 Ivan Bukavshin (RUS) 2657 (age 20) eliminated in round 1
• #78 S.P. Sethuraman (IND) 2640 (age 22) advanced to round 3
• #80 David Anton Guijarro (ESP) 2628 (age 20) eliminated in round 1
• #90 Alexander Ipatov (TUR) 2625 (age 22) eliminated in round 2
• #97 Lu Shanglei (CHN) 2599 (age 20) advanced to round 3

CalChess State Champs on Labor Day

The view of airplanes landing at SFO is sometimes breathtaking.

The annual CalChess State Championships, open to chess warriors of all ages, will be held this coming weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame, south of SFO Airport.  Veterans will recall this event as the Labor Day Festival, which for many years took place on Van Ness Avenue in the City itself. In those days, Labor Day was the biggest adult tournament in the Bay Area.  While the Golden State Open in January now boasts a larger prize fund and turnout, winning on Labor Day weekend brings more prestige--state champions will be crowned in every section!

Last year saw a pair of Grandmasters, Ioan Cristian Chirila and Oliver Barbosa, share first place, with Chirila awarded the trophy.  The defending champion will be back in 2015!  The top challengers include local GM and author Jesse Kraai, visiting GM Giorgi Margvelashvili, at least three International Masters, and one high-rated math professor.  Of course, one or two surprise entries show up on-site each year.

Update: 223 players have already registered.  

• Event: CalChess State Championships
• Date: September 5-7 (3-day) or September 6-7 (2-day) 
  
• Location: San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency in Burlingame (map here)
• Format: 6 round swiss in 6 sections (Open, Expert, A, B, C and D/E/Unrated).
• 3-day schedule: Reg: Sat 8-9:30. Rounds: Sat 10, 3:30; Sun 11, 5; Mon 10, 3:30.
• 2-day schedule: Reg: Sun 8-9, Rounds: Sun 9:30, 12, 2:30, 5; Mon 10, 3:30.
• Time control: 40/120 G/30 d/5; except rounds 1-3 of 2-day schedule at G/61 d/5.
• Entry fee: $154 includes late fee; $25 extra to play up.
• Prize fund: $20,000 based on 249 players, including $2,500 for 1st place in Open and between $1000 to $1500 for 1st place in each lower section.
• Tournament flyer
• Information page
• Advance entry list
• 2014 Results (266 players!!)

Traffic alert!  There will be no BART service from the East Bay to San Francisco for the entire weekend. Expect heavier than usual traffic on the bridges. More info at 511.org.