But there is something untoward about Karjakin's non-participation apparently. The first tournament is Stavanger 15-26 June 2015. From the Russian chess news site:
Sergey Karjakin: "The Stavanger Organisers Invited Me, But Then Changed Their Mind"
"Many people have asked me why I am not playing in Stavanger" - wrote Sergey Karjakin on his Facebook page. "The truth is that the organizers invited me personally, but then changed their mind, referring to the fact that they have changed the rules, and now it is not a separate super-tournament but part of a tournament series. Then they probably felt uncomfortable about what they had done, so they nominated me for the qualifying event! Quite apart from the fact that it overlaps with the Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk, I think that, to put it mildly, it is rather strange to be invited to qualify for a tournament, which I have won twice in a row. So I would not have played in the qualifier anyway. There is no moral to this story, let everyone draw their own conclusions. But having been asked why I am not playing, that is my answer. "
We would remind readers that this year, Stavanger is one of the stages of a new cycle of tournaments called the Grand Chess Tour. Nine participants of the series are determined, and Karjakin is not among them.
http://chess-news.ru/en/node/18968