Candidates 2014

[Chris Rice]

I enjoyed the Candidates this year, perhaps not as much as London though. I would have liked to lever in Nakamura, Caruana, Grishuk, Gelfand, Vachier-Lagrave and Ivanchuk and maybe a few others. So my vote would be for a Swiss. What I distrust about the round robin format is although it would seem fairer on paper ultimately the winner could have been decided by a back marker who is not involved in the race. I'm thinking of Ivanchuk last year but just as easily this year you could hypothetically have had allegations that Topalov, with nothing to lose, let someone beat him with black in the last round just so that Kramnik couldn't win.

[Roger de Coverly]

I think the Candidates is the right format, given that funding for matches seems impossible now, and the process for 2016 (March 9-28 allegedly) is fixed

A positive outcome of the involvement of Agon was that dates and formats are supposedly fixed and cannot be changed at the whim of the FIDE president or the General Assembly.

I can't remember seeing an announcement on the next Grand Prix series

FIDE seemed to be struggling to finance and arrange the last Grand Prix series, relying on a set of relatively unconnected local sponsors and patrons. The World Cup now appears tied in with the Olympiad and the places conditional on rating will obviously be delivered. That leaves the Grand Prix related places potentially able to throw the cycle back into chaos if no such Grand Prix can be arranged.

[Paolo Casaschi]

Congratulations to Anand.
Since it seems that anyone's comments and predictions should be assessed according to their rating, I'll spare you my personal comments and just copy&paste this, both about the candidates and the upcoming world championship:

We really spoke about it in London and Vishy was unsure by that time. I advised him to participate because I really thought he had a chance and I just told him so.... Also I think he has all chances to win the match against Carlsen. I had similar crises, so I know what was happening inside him.

[Angus French]

I like the current format. I think it makes for a great competition.

Yes, the players seemed tired at the end but does that matter? Doesn't it help make things interesting? And oughtn't the players to be able to last 14 rounds? (For comparison, though it's probably an extreme, Zurich 1953 had 15 players and 30 rounds.)

So my vote would be for a Swiss.

Chris, what type of Swiss do you envisage - how many players and how many rounds?

The World Cup now appears tied in with the Olympiad

Roger, if you mean in the sense that bids are invited to host both events then that comes to an end this year (the FIDE-Agon contract says that Agon has the right to organise The World Cup from 2015).

[Jonathan Bryant]

... my vote would be for a Swiss.

While I take your point about the potential theoretical drawbacks of an APA, swiss tournaments have built in problems, not the least of them being potential for players to get different numbers of Whites/Blacks and the guarantee of different fields (and often markedly so).


I really don’t think a swiss system is appropriate for an important qualifying or championship tournament.


I agree it would be good to get more of the very best players involved though.

[Mick Norris]

FIDE seemed to be struggling to finance and arrange the last Grand Prix series, relying on a set of relatively unconnected local sponsors and patrons

In November, the Presidential Board decided:

The WCOC report was agreed: there will be six Grand Prix events if we have all six signed by December 31st. If not, by June next year there will be four, again counting only the signed ones. If not, the places in the Candidates Tournament will be given one to the World Cup and one to the next highest on the Ratings list, instead of the Grand Prix.

The UAE is lined up for a 2015 Grand Prix
http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... o-uae.html

[Roger de Coverly]

Roger, if you mean in the sense that bids are invited to host both events then that comes to an end this year (the FIDE-Agon contract says that Agon has the right to organise The World Cup from 2015).

Was it not a condition of the 2016 Baku bid for the Olympiad, that it organised or at least paid for the 2015 World Cup? Both the next Grand Prix and World Cup will then pose the question as to whether Agon is still a functioning organisation and where FIDE stands if it isn't. There's also the question as to whether Agon will have any say whatsoever in the forthcoming Carlsen-Anand return match.

[Chris Rice]

[quote="Angus French"] Chris, what type of Swiss do you envisage - how many players and how many rounds? [quote]

If the dates are fixed then 14 rounds seems absolutely fine. As you have given me permission to be Kirsan for the day I'd invite all those players who are 2700 or more, the continental unions would get a further one pick each and the organisers can have a further two wildcards. So that'll be roughly 51 players. Here's the list of 2700+ers. I've left Carlsen & Anand in because one of them won't be WC next March. Surely could be one of the greatest tournaments in history:

1 Carlsen, Magnus
NOR 2881
2 Aronian, Levon
ARM 2812
3 Anand, Viswanathan
IND 2785
4 Kramnik, Vladimir
RUS 2783
5 Caruana, Fabiano
ITA 2783
6 Grischuk, Alexander
RUS 2777
7 Karjakin, Sergey
RUS 2772
8 Topalov, Veselin
BUL 2772
9 Nakamura, Hikaru
USA 2772
10 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
AZE 2760
11 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
FRA 2758
12 Dominguez Perez, Leinier
CUB 2757
13 Svidler, Peter
RUS 2756
14 Adams, Michael
ENG 2753
15 Gelfand, Boris
ISR 2753
16 Ivanchuk, Vassily
UKR 2753
17 Vitiugov, Nikita
RUS 2747
18 Giri, Anish
NED 2745
19 So, Wesley
PHI 2738
20 Wang, Hao
CHN 2734
21 Eljanov, Pavel
UKR 2732
22 Nepomniachtchi, Ian
RUS 2732
23 Leko, Peter
HUN 2730
24 Jakovenko, Dmitry
RUS 2726
25 Harikrishna, P.
IND 2726
26 Ponomariov, Ruslan
UKR 2723
27 Andreikin, Dmitry
RUS 2722
28 Bacrot, Etienne
FRA 2722
29 Morozevich, Alexander
RUS 2722
30 Wang, Yue
CHN 2717
31 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
POL 2716
32 Kamsky, Gata
USA 2714
33 Radjabov, Teimour
AZE 2713
34 Li, Chao b
CHN 2711
35 Fressinet, Laurent
FRA 2711
36 Ding, Liren
CHN 2710
37 Le, Quang Liem
VIE 2710
38 Moiseenko, Alexander
UKR 2707
39 Navara, David
CZE 2706
40 Naiditsch, Arkadij
GER 2706
41 Jobava, Baadur
GEO 2706
42 Rublevsky, Sergei
RUS 2706
43 Kryvoruchko, Yuriy
UKR 2704
44 Shirov, Alexei
LAT 2702
45 Areshchenko, Alexander
UKR 2701
46 Malakhov, Vladimir
RUS 2701

[Roger de Coverly]

In November, the Presidential Board decided:

The WCOC report was agreed: there will be six Grand Prix events if we have all six signed by December 31st. If not, by June next year there will be four, again counting only the signed ones. If not, the places in the Candidates Tournament will be given one to the World Cup and one to the next highest on the Ratings list, instead of the Grand Prix.

That rather seems to imply that if "the world" don't want to finance and organise Grand Prix tournaments, that FIDE can't be bothered either. Does that make the Candidates *3 from the rating lists and *4 from the World Cup plus the loser of the previous WC match?

If it wanted to do it on the cheap, it could set a minimum standard which elite events such as Wijk-am-Zee would have to satisfy to qualify. A method already exists in the form of Norm categories. Qualification for the Candidates would be based in some manner on the best (rating) performance in these events subject to a minimum game count.

[Angus French]

Chris, what type of Swiss do you envisage - how many players and how many rounds?

If the dates are fixed then 14 rounds seems absolutely fine. As you have given me permission to be Kirsan for the day I'd invite all those players who are 2700 or more, the continental unions would get a further one pick each and the organisers can have a further two wildcards. So that'll be roughly 51 players. Here's the list of 2700+ers. I've left Carlsen & Anand in because one of them won't be WC next March. Surely could be one of the greatest tournaments in history:

1 Carlsen, Magnus
NOR 2881
2 Aronian, Levon
ARM 2812
3 Anand, Viswanathan
IND 2785
4 Kramnik, Vladimir
RUS 2783
5 Caruana, Fabiano
ITA 2783
6 Grischuk, Alexander
RUS 2777
7 Karjakin, Sergey
RUS 2772
8 Topalov, Veselin
BUL 2772
9 Nakamura, Hikaru
USA 2772
10 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
AZE 2760
.
.
.
46 Malakhov, Vladimir
RUS 2701

Intriguing idea, Chris... A couple of questions:
1. Often Swiss tournaments clog up in later rounds with quickish draws between the leading players. Would it be different with a Candidates Swiss? Maybe so, given the 1st-place prize.
2. There's no room for a qualifying Grand Prix series.

How about, instead, a Swiss qualifier for the Candidates?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

If the dates are fixed then 14 rounds seems absolutely fine. As you have given me permission to be Kirsan for the day I'd invite all those players who are 2700 or more, the continental unions would get a further one pick each and the organisers can have a further two wildcards. So that'll be roughly 51 players. Here's the list of 2700+ers. I've left Carlsen & Anand in because one of them won't be WC next March. Surely could be one of the greatest tournaments in history

I'd prefer to see a smaller tournament among the very top elite, like what we got in the two recent Candidates, but slightly expanded. Going all the way to 51 players (and an arbitrary 2700 cut-off) seems excessive. It would also increase the expense of putting on the event (more arbiters for a start) and what incentive would there be in terms of prize money for those not expected to win? You would have to pay conditions to get attendance from professionals, or at least have some reasonable prize money all the way down to last place, so how do you fund that? Also, too many games to watch. (Seriously!)

[Mick Norris]

In November, the Presidential Board decided:

The WCOC report was agreed: there will be six Grand Prix events if we have all six signed by December 31st. If not, by June next year there will be four, again counting only the signed ones. If not, the places in the Candidates Tournament will be given one to the World Cup and one to the next highest on the Ratings list, instead of the Grand Prix.

That rather seems to imply that if "the world" don't want to finance and organise Grand Prix tournaments, that FIDE can't be bothered either. Does that make the Candidates *3 from the rating lists and *4 from the World Cup plus the loser of the previous WC match?

If it wanted to do it on the cheap, it could set a minimum standard which elite events such as Wijk-am-Zee would have to satisfy to qualify. A method already exists in the form of Norm categories. Qualification for the Candidates would be based in some manner on the best (rating) performance in these events subject to a minimum game count.

Candidates qualification has been:

Loser of World Championship match
World Cup finalists
Grand Prix series winner and runner-up
Top 2 from ratings not otherwise qualified
Wild card for organiser of Candidates

So, if the GP is dropped, we have a third place play-off at the World Cup, plus a third by rating

[Mick Norris]

How about, instead, a Swiss qualifier for the Candidates?

An Interzonal as it used to be known

[Chris Rice]

It would also increase the expense of putting on the event (more arbiters for a start)

I had forgotten about that. It would indeed lead to an enormous rise in food costs.

[Angus French]

Also, too many games to watch. (Seriously!)

Good point! The number of games this time and last seemed like a good number for watching. I thought the comentators - Peter Heine Nielsen and Viktorija Cmilyte - did a great job too, focussing on each game for perhaps five minutes at a time.