Chess World Cup 2021

FIDE Chess World Cup 2021

Jan-Krzysztof Duda, the winner of the 2021 FIDE World Cup.
Tournament information
Sport	Chess
Location	Sochi, Russia
Dates	12 July 2021–6 August 2021
Administrator	FIDE
Tournament format(s)	Single-elimination tournament
Host(s)	Chess Federation of Russia
Final positions
Champion	Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Runner-up	Sergey Karjakin
3rd place	Magnus Carlsen
← 2019 2023 →

The Chess World Cup 2021 was a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Sochi, Russia, beginning 12 July and ending 6 August 2021.^[1] It was the 9th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner of this tournament was the Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who won without losing any games either in classical chess or in the rapid tiebreakers.^[2]

The two finalists (Duda and Sergey Karjakin) qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022. The rest of the final eight, except Magnus Carlsen, qualified for the FIDE Grand Prix 2022.

In parallel with this open tournament, an inaugural women-only version was held.

The tournament was an 8-round knockout event, with the top 50 seeds given a bye directly into the second round. The losers of the two semi-finals played a match for third place.

The two finalists, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Sergey Karjakin qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022, which is a tournament to decide the next challenger for the World Championship. Moreover, all quarter-finalists, except for World Champion Magnus Carlsen, qualified for the FIDE Grand Prix 2022, giving them another chance to qualify for the Candidates.

Each round consisted of classical time limit games on the first two days, plus tie-breaks on the third day if required. The time limits were as follows:

• Two classical time limit games: 90 minutes, plus a 30-minute increment on move 40, plus a 30-second increment per move from move 1, per player.
• If the match was tied after the classical games, players played two rapid chess games, with 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player.
• If the match was still tied, players then played two more rapid chess games, with 10 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player.
• If the match was still tied, players then played two blitz games, with 5 minutes plus a 3-second increment per move, per player.
• If the match was still tied, a single armageddon chess game was played to decide the match, with draw odds to Black, meaning White had to win but Black only needed to draw or win, to win the match. The players drew lots and the winner of the draw chose their color. White received 5 minutes, Black received 4 minutes, and each player received an extra 2 seconds per move beginning at move 61.

Each round lasted three days: two for classical time limit games and a third, if necessary, for tie-breaks. Rounds 1 to 3 ran from July 12 to 20; July 21 was a rest day; Rounds 4 to 6 ran from July 22 to 30; July 31 was a rest day; and the last two rounds ran from August 1 to 6.

Play began at 3:00 pm local time (12:00 UTC) on all days.^[1]

The total prize fund was US$1,892,500, with the first prize of US$110,000.^[3]

IM Eric Rosen was one of the official photographers for the event.^[4]

The following is the list of participants.^[5][6] Players were seeded by their FIDE rating of June 2021, and all players were grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.

Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.

Players qualifying for the event included:

• The world chess champion
• The women's world chess champion (WWC)
• The 2019 World Junior Champion U20 (U20)
• The top four players in the Chess World Cup 2019 (WC)
• 89 players qualifying from Continental events:
  • Europe (47): High rating (ER, 10), Hybrid qualification (E, 36), Zonal 1.10 (Z1.10, 1)
  • America (11+9): Hybrid qualification (AM, 8), Zonals 2.1 (Z2.1, 5), 2.2 (Z2.2, 1), 2.3 (Z2.3, 2), 2.4 (Z2.4, 2), 2.5 (Z2.5, 2)
  • Asia (18): Hybrid Asian Championship 2021 (AS, 7), Indian Qualification (IAS, 1), Zonals 3.1 (Z3.1, 1), 3.2 (Z3.2, 1), 3.3 (Z3.3, 2), 3.4 (Z3.4, 2), 3.5 (Z3.5, 2), 3.6 (Z3.6, 1), 3.7 (Z3.7, 1)
  • Africa (4): African Chess Championship (AF, 4)
• The 13 highest-rated players from the average of 12 rating lists, from July 2020 to June 2021 (R)
• 91 federations spots selected according to the average rating of their 10 highest rated players (FN).
• 4 nominees of the FIDE President (PN)
• 2 nominees of the organizer (ON)

The participants were seeded by their FIDE rating of June 2021. For the first time, a hybrid format of online chess under arbiter supervision was allowed to be a part of the qualification process, due to the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in organizing over the board competition.^[7][8]

The following are the players from the list of qualifiers^[5] who declined to play, and their replacements:

•  Teimour Radjabov (AZE) (WC) →  Boris Gelfand (ISR) (R). Radjabov already had a wildcard placement for the 2022 Candidates.
•  Ding Liren (CHN) (WC) →  Anton Korobov (UKR) (R). Ding Liren did not play because of China's COVID-19 travel restrictions, and also because he was committed to playing in a Chinese tournament.^[9]
•  Evgeny Shtembuliak (UKR) (U20) →  Vladimir Malakhov (RUS) (R)
•  Ju Wenjun (CHN) (WWC) →  Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) (R)
•  Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) (R) →  Pentala Harikrishna (IND) (R). Nepomniachtchi was preparing for the World Chess Championship 2021 match against Carlsen.^[10][11]
•  Wesley So (USA) (R) →  Vidit Gujrathi (IND) (R). COVID-19 reasons.^[9]
•  Richárd Rapport (HUN) (R) →  Alexander Areshchenko (UKR) (R)
•  Wang Hao (CHN) (R) →  Salem Saleh (UAE) (R). Wang Hao had retired from competitive chess.^[12]
•  Viswanathan Anand (IND) (R) →  Jorden van Foreest (NED) (R). Anand was already committed to playing the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting between July 10 and 18.^[13]
•  Lu Shanglei (CHN) (AS) →  Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) (AS)
•  Veselin Topalov (BUL) (ER) →  Kirill Alekseenko (RUS) (ER)
•  Michael Adams (ENG) (ER) →  Yuriy Kryvoruchko (UKR) (ER)
•  Viktor Láznička (CZE) (E) →  Viktor Erdős (HUN) (E)
•  Michael Wiedenkeller (LUX) (Z1.10) →  Helgi Dam Ziska (FRO) (Z1.10)
•  Temur Kuybokarov (AUS) (Z3.6) →  Elmer Prudente (GUM) (Z3.6). Kuybokarov withdrew due to Australian travel restrictions due to COVID-19.^[14]
•  Huang Renjie (CHN) (Z3.5) → an extra presidential nominee (PN)
•  Bai Jinshi (CHN) (Z3.5) → an extra presidential nominee (PN)

In addition, six federations (Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Japan, South Korea, Peru, Vietnam) did not nominate a player. Because of this and the two Zone 3.5 withdrawals, the number of presidential nominees (PN) increased from four to twelve, with the eight extra being:^[15][5]

•  Varuzhan Akobian (USA) (PN)
•  Chiletso Chipanga (MAW) (PN)
•  Denis Kadrić (BIH) (PN)
•  Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (IND) (PN)
•  Alexey Sarana (RUS) (PN)
•  David Paravyan (RUS) (PN)
•  Nihal Sarin (IND) (PN)
•  Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) (PN)

	First round					Second round					Third round					Fourth round
	1	M Carlsen	Bye
	-	Bye 1				1	M Carlsen	2
	128	S Martinović	1½			128	S Martinović	0
	129	K Kulaots	½								1	M Carlsen	2
	65	E Bareev	1½								64	A Tari	0
	192	D Quizon	½			65	E Bareev	½
	64	A Tari	2			64	A Tari	1½
	193	D Barrish	0													1	M Carlsen	2½
	33	R Wojtaszek	Bye													33	R Wojtaszek	1½
	-	Bye 33				33	R Wojtaszek	1½
	96	E Alekseev	2½			96	E Alekseev	½
	161	A Fawzy	1½								33	R Wojtaszek	3
	97	HS Gretarsson	2½								32	M Matlakov	1
	160	K Stupak	1½			97	HS Gretarsson	½
	32	M Matlakov	Bye			32	M Matlakov	1½
	-	Bye 32

First round

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

17

D Dubov

Bye

Bye 17

17

D Dubov

2½

112

Gukesh D

2½

112

Gukesh D

1½

145

P Teclaf

1½

17

D Dubov

1½

81

D Vocaturo

1½

48

V Malakhov

½

176

S Gan-Erdene

½

81

D Vocaturo

½

48

V Malakhov

Bye

48

V Malakhov

1½

-

Bye 48

17

D Dubov

2½

49

N Abasov

Bye

16

A Esipenko

3½

-

Bye 49

49

N Abasov

2½

80

S Sargsyan

2

80

S Sargsyan

1½

177

P Martínez Reyes

0

49

N Abasov

½

113

TDV Nguyen

1½

16

A Esipenko

1½

144

A Kozák

½

113

TDV Nguyen

1½

16

A Esipenko

Bye

16

A Esipenko

2½

-

Bye 16

	First round					Second round					Third round					Fourth round
	9	L Domínguez	Bye
	-	Bye 9				9	L Domínguez	1
	120	L Pantsulaia	½			137	J Vakhidov	3
	137	J Vakhidov	1½								137	J Vakhidov	1
	73	P Ponkratov	1½								73	P Ponkratov	3
	184	A Ventura Sousa	½			73	P Ponkratov	1½
	56	Y Kuzubov	2			56	Y Kuzubov	½
	201	A Kassis	0													73	P Ponkratov	1½
	41	É Bacrot	Bye													41	É Bacrot	2½
	-	Bye 41				41	É Bacrot	2½
	88	V Zvjaginsev	1			169	R Haria	1½
	169	R Haria	3								41	É Bacrot	2½
	105	H Gabuzyan	3								24	B Amin	1½
	152	B Bellahcene	1			105	H Gabuzyan	½
	24	B Amin	Bye			24	B Amin	1½
	-	Bye 24

First round

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

25

J van Foreest

Bye

-

Bye 25

25

J van Foreest

1½

104

M Pârligras

½

153

J Druska

½

153

J Druska

1½

25

J van Foreest

½

89

K Piorun

1½

89

K Piorun

1½

168

R Makarian

½

89

K Piorun

1½

40

M Ragger

Bye

40

M Ragger

½

-

Bye 40

89

K Piorun

1½

57

J Cori

1½

121

J Sindarov

½

200

A Karimov

½

57

J Cori

3½

72

S Mareco

2

72

S Mareco

2½

185

S Khader

0

57

J Cori

½

121

J Sindarov

1½

121

J Sindarov

1½

136

A Tang

½

121

J Sindarov

3½

8

A Firouzja

Bye

8

A Firouzja

2½

-

Bye 8

First round

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

5

A Grischuk

Bye

-

Bye 5

5

A Grischuk

1½

124

F Perez Ponsa

3½

124

F Perez Ponsa

½

133

M Nikolov

2½

5

A Grischuk

1½

69

A Pichot

2

69

A Pichot

½

188

S Minero Pineda

0

69

A Pichot

1½

60

I Šarić

2

60

I Šarić

½

197

S Miguel

0

5

A Grischuk

2½

37

A Korobov

Bye

37

A Korobov

1½

-

Bye 37

37

A Korobov

1½

92

C Henriquez Villagra

2

92

C Henriquez Villagra

½

165

Goh Wei Ming

0

37

A Korobov

1½

101

K Georgiev

1½

101

K Georgiev

½

156

A Dgebuadze

½

101

K Georgiev

2½

28

P Maghsoodloo

Bye

28

P Maghsoodloo

1½

-

Bye 28

	First round					Second round					Third round					Fourth round
	21	E Tomashevsky	Bye
	-	Bye 21				21	E Tomashevsky	2
	108	S Bogner	½			149	P Iniyan	0
	149	P Iniyan	1½								21	E Tomashevsky	1½
	85	P Idani	2								85	P Idani	2½
	172	Z Rahman	0			85	P Idani	1½
	44	D Antón Guijarro	Bye			44	D Antón Guijarro	½
	-	Bye 44														85	P Idani	½
	53	S Sevian	2													12	J-K Duda	1½
	204	S Subramaniam	0			53	S Sevian	4
	76	B Bok	2½			76	B Bok	2
	181	A Abdyjapar	1½								53	S Sevian	½
	117	N Meshkovs	½								12	J-K Duda	1½
	140	G Vázquez	1½			140	G Vázquez	½
	12	J-K Duda	Bye			12	J-K Duda	1½
	-	Bye 12

	First round					Second round					Third round					Fourth round
	13	V Gujrathi	Bye
	-	Bye 13				13	V Gujrathi	2½
	116	A Fier	3½			116	A Fier	1½
	141	J Pecháč	2½								13	V Gujrathi	4½
	77	N Delgado Ramírez	5								52	B Adhiban	3½
	180	N Murshed	3			77	N Delgado Ramírez	0
	52	B Adhiban	2			52	B Adhiban	2
	205	C Chipanga	0													13	V Gujrathi	2
	45	N Grandelius	Bye													20	J Xiong	0
	-	Bye 45				45	N Grandelius	2½
	84	V Akobian	2½			84	V Akobian	1½
	173	E Valderrama Quiceno	1½								45	N Grandelius	1½
	109	V Mikhalevski	w/o								20	J Xiong	2½
	148	Wynn Zaw Htun				109	V Mikhalevski	½
	20	J Xiong	Bye