2017 World Cup 2-27 September, Tbilisi

[benedgell]

Assuming the 1st round goes with seeding, Rapport- We Yi, Aronian- Hou Yifan, Yu Yangyi- Jobaava, and Anton Guijarro- Nakamura, in the 2nd round are going to be interesting pairings.

[Mick Norris]

Indeed; should be a very interesting event in its own right; seems to me the strongest World Cup ever, and whoever gets the 2 Candidates spots will need a rest afterwards!

A third round seeded Kramnik - Ivanchuk with the winner meeting Giri - Harikrishna

[Chris Rice]

Interesting comment from Carlsen in this Chess.com interview. "It is a bit odd that the rules allow me to play when it's a world championship qualifier (...) but as long as the rules are there then I want to sort of exploit this loophole to get an interesting experience."

[Chris Rice]

FIDE press release which includes details on the time controls:

"The time control for each two-game match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games, played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still equal then two accelerated games will be played, with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still equal two more games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec. If the winner is still not determined then a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn). The games start at 3 pm local time on 3rd of September."

[Roger de Coverly]

details on the time controls:

I think they are unchanged from 2015.

Having the Armageddon game introduce an increment from move 60 is probably the best compromise. If you had an increment from move 1, that negates the one minute time advantage, whilst not having one at all leaves open the possibility of a win on time with King and Knight against King and Knight.

[Mick Norris]

chess24 preview with prediction competition if you want to give it a whirl

[JustinHorton]

Do we know the kickoff times?

[Mick Norris]

Do we know the kickoff times?

Noon UK time I think, working from the countdown clock on chess24live

[JustinHorton]

Ta

[Chris Rice]

ChessBase article which highlights some of the upcoming matches. Carlsen's surprising decision to play is still the main discussion point in the build up to the tournament.

Carlsen "In short, I strongly believe the chess world should evolve to a more just system. What does that look like? I have long thought that moving to an annual knock-out event, similar to the World Cup, would be more equitable. This change would in effect improve the odds of becoming World Champion for nearly every chess player, with the exception of the reigning World Champion, and potentially a few other top players who would no longer be favoured by the current format. Creating regional qualifying events combined with rating spots, the participation of all the top players in the world and the undisputed World Championship title at stake, I truly believe this would make the World Championship cycle more accessible to everyone."

Personally I find Carlsen's argument would have had more merit if he put his title at stake by participating in this event. Perhaps he did offer and FIDE rejected it but I think we would have heard that by now if that was the case. As it is in the next few weeks he could be eliminating rivals for his title in this FA cup style format without any risk of losing his title of World Champion.

[Mick Norris]

That's a quote from 2 years ago, although he may well still think the same

I think the World Cup is a good standalone event, and have no problem with providing 2 Candidates, but the world championship match format is still I think the most marketable for chess

[Graham Borrowdale]

Personally I find Carlsen's argument would have had more merit if he put his title at stake by participating in this event. Perhaps he did offer and FIDE rejected it but I think we would have heard that by now if that was the case. As it is in the next few weeks he could be eliminating rivals for his title in this FA cup style format without any risk of losing his title of World Champion.

I tend to agree, but I would note that I don't think it is Carlsen's title to put on the line, its the FIDE title and he happens to hold it. Similarly, Chelsea can not put the Premiership title on the line next time they play Bournemouth. The idea that Carlsen might, in effect, put genuine title contenders out of contention seems wrong, whatever his views on justice might be.

[Alex Holowczak]

The idea that Carlsen might, in effect, put genuine title contenders out of contention seems wrong, whatever his views on justice might be.

Two people qualify by rating for the Candidates. They'll usually be people in the top 10 of the world rankings; the sort of people he plays all the time in the Grand Tour, Norway Chess, and other events. By playing and potentially winning against them, isn't that going to "put genuine title contenders out of contention" by having an effect on their rating? Or is that different?

[Brian Towers]

The idea that Carlsen might, in effect, put genuine title contenders out of contention seems wrong, whatever his views on justice might be.

Two people qualify by rating for the Candidates. They'll usually be people in the top 10 of the world rankings; the sort of people he plays all the time in the Grand Tour, Norway Chess, and other events. By playing and potentially winning against them, isn't that going to "put genuine title contenders out of contention" by having an effect on their rating? Or is that different?

I think the knock-out format makes it quite hard for him to have much influence. He's not going to be deliberately drawing or losing.

If he were allowed to play in the candidates, yachting style, then that would be very different. With his personal results not affecting his place in the final he could choose against which opponents to have long hard fought wins (or attempted wins) and which to have quick draws and perhaps even deliberate losses.

[Chris Rice]

I think the knock-out format makes it quite hard for him to have much influence. He's not going to be deliberately drawing or losing.

If he were allowed to play in the candidates, yachting style, then that would be very different. With his personal results not affecting his place in the final he could choose against which opponents to have long hard fought wins (or attempted wins) and which to have quick draws and perhaps even deliberate losses.

There are bits of that I agree with but I suspect if Carlsen knocks out the likes of Nakamura, Aronian, Kramnik and So his influence may be felt in this tournament. To suggest that he would deliberately lose is something Carlsen would never do in my opinion but the fact that his title is not at stake could potentially lead him to make more risky decisions in order to knock out a particularly dangerous challenger than he otherwise would.

For everyone else any mistake could mean the end of their world championship hopes. For Carlsen a loss to someone would only be reputational damage, no big deal, he's still going to be in the WC match come what may. It really isn't equitable, if that's the right way of putting it.

Anyway I notice that Marathon Bet have got all the odds up and it looks a bit like the Grand National. Carlsen is the bookies favourite, no surprise there, but Nakamura 2nd and Kramnik 3rd favourites? Might be worth a punt on players a bit further down in the betting, such as Grischuk, MVL, Wei Yi and even Anand who has a habit of doing well at these qualifiers.