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)
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| 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
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