The $1.6m World Cup, now under way in Baku, Azerbaijan, is for many grandmasters the most competitive and bitterly fought event of the year. First prize is $120,000 but more important for the two finalists is that they qualify for the eight-player 2016 Candidates which will decide the world champion, Magnus Carlsen’s, next challenger.
The format leaves no room for error. It is two games at classical chess, then three pairs of two speed games at progressively faster time rates, then if 4-4 the dreaded Armageddon decider. Here White has five minutes, Black four and a draw counts as a win for Black. The tennis equivalent would be a single set, then an abbreviated tie-break.
For some Baku is the last chance saloon for progress to the Candidates and revival of a flagging career. Russia’s former world champion Vlad Kramnik, 40, turned down the $1m Grand Tour to concentrate on the World Cup.
Levon Aronian, fresh from his Grand Tour victory at St Louis, will venture as an Armenian into hostile Azeri territory. High officials in Erevan approved his trip, Baku has guaranteed his security.
The event will be a major test for China, the rising global chess power and already Olympic and world team champions. China fields 10 players, its largest World Cup contingent ever (though Russia has 23). They include the current darling of chess fans Wei Yi, 16, the youngest ever 2700-rated player, already world No24, and widely tipped as a future Carlsen rival.
Wei Yi can beat anybody on his day but he has tough pairings. If he wins his first two rounds against lower-rated opponents, he could meet Aronian in the round of 32, China’s No1 and worldNo8, Ding Liren, in the round of 16 and the top seed, Veselin Topalov, in the quarter-final.
England’s sole representative, Michael Adams, has a fine record in big knockouts. He reached the semi-finals in 1997, the final in 2004.
If he wins his first three rounds, he will probably face the US champion and world No2, Hikaru Nakamura, in the quarter-finals.
The joker in the pack at Baku is that the top four seeds are already formally or virtually qualified for the Candidates, so will be under less pressure than their rivals.
Games start at 11am BST and can be viewed free and live online with grandmaster and computer move-by-move commentaries.
The pick of Saturday’s games is between America’s 14-year-old Sam Sevian, coached by Garry Kasparov and the youngest player at Baku, and Teimour Radjabov, the top Azeri and a former world title candidate. Sunday’s speed tie-breaks will be entertaining, too.
The top seeds all won their opening games on Friday, as did Wei. Adams drew. In this recent game, Wei Yi refutes a greedy queen excursion. White loses time early (8 Bxc6 at once) but is holding until 21 Re1? (Qd1) and then Qe3xc5? opens the floodgates. At the end if 29 Nf1 Rxf1 30 Bf4 Bxg3+! 31 Bxg3 Rf2+ wins.
Wang Chen v Wei Yi, Danzhou 2015
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 g6 4 O-O Bg7 5 c3 Nf6 6 Qe2 O-O 7 h3 Qb6 8 Ba4?! d5 9 e5 Nd7 10 Bxc6 bxc6 11 d3 f6 12 exf6 exf6 13 c4 Ba6 14 Qe6+ Rf7 15 Nc3 Nf8 16 Qe2 dxc4 17 dxc4 Qb4 18 Nd2 f5 19 Qf3 Rc8 20 a3 Qb8! 21 Re1? Re8 22 Rxe8 Qxe8 23 Qe3? Re7 24 Qxc5? Re1+ 25 Kh2 Ne6 26 Qxa7 Bd4 27 Qxa6 Qb8+ 28 g3 Bxf2 0-1
3407 1 Rxh7+! Kxh7 2 Rf7+ Kh8 3 Qg6 with no reasonable defence to Qh7 mate.
