The Chess World Cup 2021 was a 206-player

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

tournament that took place in Sochi, Russia, beginning 12 July and ending 6 August 2021. It was the 9th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner of this tournament was the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Jan-Krzysztof Duda Jan-Krzysztof Duda (; born 26 April 1998) is a Polish chess grandmaster. A prodigy, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and 21 days. he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 18 in the world. His personal best rating ...

, who won without losing any games either in classical chess or in the rapid tiebreakers. The two finalists (Duda and Sergey Karjakin) qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022. The rest of the final eight, except

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...

, qualified for the

FIDE Grand Prix 2022 The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 was a series of three chess tournaments played between 4 February and 4 April 2022. The top two finishers – Hikaru Nakamura (winner) and Richárd Rapport (runner-up) – qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022,< ...

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

Format

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,

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

, 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 Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, bli ...

games, with 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player. * If the match was still tied, players then played two more

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 Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...

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.

Schedule

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 3:00pm local time (1200 UT) on all days.Men's World Cup 2021 Schedule

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

Prize money

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

Media

IM Eric Rosen was one of the official photographers for the event.

Participants

The following is the list of participants."Participants of the World Cup 2021"
(PDF)
Official tournament site

"Tournament Tree"
/ref> Players were seeded by their FIDE rating of June 2021, and all players were grandmasters unless indicated otherwise. , 2847 (World Champion) , 2820 (R) , 2781 (R) , 2780 (R) , 2776 (R) , 2770 (R) , 2760 (WC) , 2759 (R) , 2758 (R) , 2757 (R) , 2730 (R) , 2729 (ER) , 2726 (R) , 2724 (ER) , 2724 (ER) , 2716 (E) , 2714 (ER) , 2714 (ER) , 2710 (ER) , 2709 (Z2.1) , 2706 (E) , 2705 (WC) , 2704 (E) , 2703 (AF) , 2701 (R) , 2699 (ER) , 2699 (ER) , 2698 (AS) , 2697 (ER) , 2696 (E) , 2691 (Z2.1) , 2688 (E) , 2687 (ER) , 2687 (R) , 2684 (R) , 2683 (E) , 2683 (R) , 2682 (R) , 2682 (FN) , 2680 (FN) , 2678 (FN) , 2675 (R) , 2673 (FN) , 2673 (E) , 2670 (FN) , 2669 (FN) , 2667 (E) , 2666 (R) , 2665 (PN) , 2662 (FN) , 2661 (E) , 2660 (FN) , 2660 (Z2.1) , 2656 (E) , 2654 (E) , 2653 (FN) , 2652 (Z2.4) , 2649 (Z2.1) , 2648 (E) , 2645 (FN) , 2641 (Z3.7) , 2640 (PN) , 2639 (E) , 2639 (FN) , 2638 (Z2.2) , 2637 (FN) , 2637 (PN) , 2634 (Z3.4) , 2630 (FN) , 2630 (E) , 2629 (PN) , 2629 (AM) , 2627 (E) , 2627 (E) , 2625 (AF) , 2624 (FN) , 2622 (Z2.5) , 2620 (PN) , 2620 (FN) , 2618 (E) , 2617 (FN) , 2615 (E) , 2614 (E) , 2614 (PN) , 2614 (FN) , 2613 (AS) , 2609 (E) , 2608 (E) , 2608 (FN) , 2608 (PN) , 2607 (E) , 2606 (AM) , 2606 (FN) , 2606 (Z2.1) , 2606 (E) , 2605 (E) , 2603 (FN) , 2603 (E) , 2599 (AM) , 2598 (Z3.4) , 2594 (FN) , 2592 (E) , 2591 (E) , 2591 (FN) , 2590 (E) , 2589 (FN) , 2586 (PN) , 2581 (FN) , 2581 (FN) , 2581 (FN) , 2579 (FN) , 2578 (PN) , 2577 (E) , 2573 (Z2.3) , 2569 (E) , 2569 (FN) , 2568 (FN) , 2565 (FN) , 2564 (E) , 2564 (FN) , 2558 (AS) , 2555 (AM) , 2554 (AM) , 2554 (Z2.5) , 2553 (E) , 2552 (FN) , 2550 (FN) , 2548 (E) , 2548 (FN) , 2547 (Z3.1) , 2546 (FN) , 2542 (E) , 2542 (FN) , 2540 (FN) , 2539 (Z1.10) , 2538 (AM) , 2534 (FN) , 2530 (AS) , 2527 (AM) , 2527 (FN) , 2523 (PN) , 2522 (Z2.4) , 2521 (FN) , 2518 (E) , 2514 (E) , 2514 (FN) , 2514 (AM) , 2508 (FN) , 2506 (IAS) , 2504 (FN) , 2502 (FN) , 2499 (FN) , 2493 (FN) , 2492 (FN) , 2490 (Z2.3) , 2488 (FN) , 2487 (FN) , 2486 (ON) , 2485 (PN) , 2485 (FN) , 2485 (AF) , 2484 (FN) , 2482 (AS) , 2480 (FN) , 2478 (FN) , 2469 (FN) , 2462 (FN) , 2460 (ON) , 2440 (FN) , 2438 (FN) , 2435 (FN) , 2434 (Z3.2) , 2430 (FN) , 2425 (FN) , 2420 (FN) , 2419 (AS) , 2417 (FN) , 2411 (FN) , 2409 (FN) , 2404 (FN) , 2403 (FN) , 2397 (AF) , 2396 (FN) , 2390 (FN) , 2382 (FN) , 2379 (FN) , 2367 (FN) , 2365 (FN) , 2356 (AS) , 2352 (FN) , 2340 (FN) , 2319 (Z3.3) , 2313 (FN) , 2307 (FN) , 2302 (FN) , 2297 (Z3.3) , 2286 (FN) , 2281 (FN) , 2274 (FN) , 2244 (FN) , 2205 (FN) , 2203 (FN) , 2193 (FN) , 2155 (FN) , 2103 (PN) , 1998 (Z3.6) 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 The Chess World Cup 2019 was a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, from 9 September to 4 October 2019. It was won by Azerbaijani grandmaster Teimour Radjabov. He and the runner-up, Ding ...

(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 The first African Chess Championship was played in 1998. Ibrahim Hasan Labib and Mohamed Tissir both shared first place with 7/10, but the former took the title. The 2007 championship was the FIDE Zone 4 qualifier for the Chess World Cup 2007, th ...

(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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

in organizing over the board competition.

Replacements

The following are the players from the list of qualifiers who declined to play, and their replacements: * (WC) → (R). Radjabov already had a wildcard placement for the 2022 Candidates. * (WC) → (R). Ding Liren did not play because of China's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

travel restrictions, and also because he was committed to playing in a Chinese tournament.Carlsen, So, Aronian & Ding in San Fermin Masters battle
chess24.com, July 11, 2021 * (U20) → (R) * (WWC) → (R) * (R) → (R). Nepomniachtchi was preparing for the

World Chess Championship 2021 The World Chess Championship 2021 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices of FIDE and played during Exp ...

match against Carlsen. * (R) → (R). COVID-19 reasons. * (R) → (R) * (R) → (R). Wang Hao had retired from competitive chess. * (R) → (R). Anand was already committed to playing the

Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting is an elite chess tournament held every summer in Dortmund, Germany. Dortmund is an invite-only event, with the exception that one slot at Dortmund is awarded to the winner of the annual Aeroflot Open in Moscow ...

between July 10 and 18. * (AS) → (AS) * (ER) → (ER) * (ER) → (ER) * (E) → (E) * (Z1.10) → (Z1.10) * (Z3.6) → (Z3.6). Kuybokarov withdrew due to Australian travel restrictions due to COVID-19. * (Z3.5) → an extra presidential nominee (PN) * (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:Players lists and full pairings of FIDE World Cups published
FIDE, 22 June 2021 (''This shows who the original four PNs were.'') * (PN) * (PN) * (PN) * (PN) * (PN) * (PN) * (PN) * (PN)

Results

Rounds 1–4

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Section 10

Section 11

Section 12

Section 13

Section 14

Section 15

Section 16

Rounds 5–8

Third place

Finals

Notes

References

External links

FIDE World Cup 2021
official site,

. {{Chess World Cups

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

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