World Chess Championship 2011
Encyclopedia
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| Defending champion
| Challenger
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| Winner of the 2010 World Chess Championship
| Winner of the 2011 Candidates tournament
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| 2817 (world No.2)
| 2746 (world No.15)
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The World Chess Championship 2012 will be a match between the current world champion Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
of India and Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
of Israel, winner of the Candidates tournament. The match will be held in May 2012 at the Skolkovo foundation (Silicon Valley of Russia) near Moscow, Russia to determine the World Chess Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
. The match will be held under the auspices of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. The prize fund is 2.55 million US Dollars.
Ilya Levitov, the head of the Russian chess federation said contrary to the FIDE press release, the match will take place in one of Moscow's museums and not in Skolkovo. The closing ceremony and certain other events may happen in Skolkovo, but not the match itself.
The defending champion is Anand, who successfully defended his title by winning the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
and has held the title since 2007. The challenger is Gelfand, who won the tournament of eight-player Candidate Matches
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
.
The process for selecting the challenger has undergone a number of changes. A major change was announced on November 25, 2008, when it was announced that a two-player Challenger Match would be replaced with an eight-player Candidates' Tournament. The change was criticised by a number of players and commentators, as well as by the Association of Chess Professionals
Association of Chess Professionals
The Association of Chess Professionals is a not-for-profit organisation, the closest thing in existence to a trade union for professional chess players. According to Article 2 of its terms:-History:...
. In November 2010, then world #2 Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
withdrew from the Candidates' Tournament.
Venue
The 2012 FIDE World Chess Championship will be held in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
The Executive Board gave during its congress in fall 2009 in Halkidiki an option to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to organise the World Chess Championship for 2012. They had until February 15, 2010 to exercise the option which had to include the offer of a prize fund similar to that for the World Chess Championship 2010 match.
The London Chess Classic organising body "Chess Promotions Limited" confirmed that London were in negotiations to hold the World Chess Championships in 2012. However, after FIDE failed to agree to the terms of the contract within the time frame agreed upon, the option expired on January 28, 2011, and Chess Promotions Limited withdrew their bid to organise the event in London, citing the lack of time left to successfully organise the event.
As a result FIDE opened an application procedure for the hosting of the World Chess Championship match to be played from 10 April 2012 to 31 May 2012. Organisations interested in bidding to host the event had until 31 July 2011, 13:00 GMT to submit their documents including a bid fee.
On June 28, it was announced that Moscow had submitted a bid to host the 2012 World Chess Championship.
On July 13, the Tamil Nadu state government announced a bid of Rs 20 crore (Approx. 4.5 million $) for the match to be held in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Chennai is the home city of the World Champion Viswanathan Anand.
It was reported on 14 July 2011 that Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
were also interested in hosting this event
In an interview with the Russian newspaper "Kommersant", dated 29 July, Boris Gelfand expressed his concern about the offer made by Chennai. Gelfand said the offer from Moscow was the only transparent one, he was not sure of the existence of financial guarantees by the Indian side. The Chennai offer was in Tamil language and he claimed it had not been translated in English. In the past, matches, including those of Kasparov against Ponomaryov and against Kasimdzanov were cancelled due to lack of financial guarantees.
On 2 August, FIDE announced that it received bids from the Russian chess federation (Moscow) and a second one from the All India chess federation (Chennai). Both were well above the minimum required prize fund. FIDE announced they would contact the bidders and players, and declare the winner of the bid by 10 August 2011.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE's president, told the Russian newspaper "Sport Express" that financial offer was not the only criterion. Other factors, including possibility of propagation of the "chess in school" program, and popularization of chess in a particular region will also be considered. He would also take into account the views of the champion and the challenger.
On 8 August, FIDE announced that the Russian Chess Federation had won the bid and will host the match in Moscow in May 2012. The prize fund will be 2.55 million US dollars.
Candidates' tournament
The challenger will be Boris Gelfand of Israel. In June 2009, FIDE indicated that the format would be matches. Originally, the intended venue for the candidate matches was BakuBaku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, but Levon Aronian
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
announced that he would not play in Azerbaijan and matches involving him were to be held in a different country yet to be determined. This was changed to Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in July 2010, but with the Azerbaijan nominee, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Shakhriyar Hamid oglu Mammadyarov , also known for his Shah nickname, is a chess Grandmaster. On the September 2010 FIDE rating list he was ranked number nine in the world with an Elo rating of 2756....
, remaining in the tournament.
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
has announced that he would not play in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
against a Russian opponent, due to the unpleasant episodes which took place during the 2006 match against Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
.
Challenger is in bold.
| Seed | Place | Qualifier | Jan 2010 Rating | Jan 2010 World Rank | May 2011 World Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loser of the World Chess Championship 2010 match | 2805 | 2 | 7 | |
| n/a | The next highest rated player in the world (average of July 2009 and January 2010 ratings) |
(withdrew) | 2810 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | The second-next highest rated player in the world (average of July 2009 and January 2010 ratings) |
2788 | 4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Winner of the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 | 2781 | 5 | 3 | |
| 4 | Winner of the Chess World Cup 2009 Chess World Cup 2009 The Chess World Cup 2009 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, played between 20 November and 14 December 2009, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Cup winner qualified for the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship 2011. Boris Gelfand defeated Ruslan Ponomariov in the... |
' | 2761 | 6 | 16 |
| 5 | Tournament organisers' nominee | 2741 | 11 | 9 | |
| 6 | Third place at the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 | (replacement for Carlsen) | 2736 | 15 | 12 |
| 7 | Runner-up at the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 | 2733 | 16 | 13 | |
| 8 | Loser of the 2009 Challenger Match | 2693 | 40 | 18 |
Pairings and schedule
According to FIDE, the loser of the World Chess Championship 2010 (Veselin TopalovVeselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
) is seed no. 1 and the rest are seeded according to FIDE January 2010 ratings. FIDE confirmed the matches on February 7, 2011. Games of the match were played from 5–25 May 2011. Tiebreaks were conducted using game in 25 minutes rapid play followed by blitz play and then armageddon games as necessary.
The schedule of the event was as follows:
- 05 May – Game 1, round 1
- 06 May – Game 2, round 1
- 07 May – Game 3, round 1
- 08 May – Game 4, round 1
- 09 May – Tiebreaks
- 12 May – Game 1, round 2
- 13 May – Game 2, round 2
- 14 May – Game 3, round 2
- 15 May – Game 4, round 2
- 16 May – Tiebreaks
- 19 May – Game 1, round 3
- 20 May – Game 2, round 3
- 21 May – Game 3, round 3
- 22 May – Free Day
- 23 May – Game 4, round 3
- 24 May – Game 5, round 3
- 25 May – Game 6, round 3
- 26 May – Tiebreaks / Closing Ceremony
Bracket
Tiebreaks are in parentheses where needed.Timeline of changes
The procedures for choosing the challenger and host have undergone a number of changes and controversies. A timeline is shown below:- February 2007 - FIDE initially announces that the challenger will be the winner of the Chess World Cup ("Proposal A"). This leads to protests from a number leading grandmasters, so this proposal is soon scrapped.
- June 2007 - FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announces a structure culminating in a two-player Challenger Match:
- The first stage is the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, a grand prix series of tournaments between twenty-one élite players, beginning in April 2008.
- In late 2009, FIDE will stage the Chess World Cup 2009Chess World Cup 2009The Chess World Cup 2009 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, played between 20 November and 14 December 2009, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Cup winner qualified for the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship 2011. Boris Gelfand defeated Ruslan Ponomariov in the...
, a series of knockout mini-matches following a similar format to the Chess World Cup 2007Chess World Cup 2007The Chess World Cup 2007 served as a qualification tournament for the World Chess Championship 2009. It was held as a 128-player single-elimination tournament, between 24 November and 16 December 2007, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia....
(128 players, seven rounds). - In 2010, an eight-game Challenger Match will be played between the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 winner and the Chess World Cup 2009Chess World Cup 2009The Chess World Cup 2009 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, played between 20 November and 14 December 2009, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The Cup winner qualified for the Candidates stage of the World Chess Championship 2011. Boris Gelfand defeated Ruslan Ponomariov in the...
winner. - The winner of the challenger match will play the defending champion in a twelve-game match in September 2011.
- Starting with this 2011 championship FIDE plans to hold future World Chess Championships on a two-year cycle in the same format.
- February 2008 - Alexander MorozevichAlexander MorozevichAlexander Morozevich is a Russian chess Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list....
announces he is boycotting the Grand Prix, saying the process is too long, unwieldy and disorganised. He claims that Viswanathan AnandViswanathan AnandV. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
, Vladimir KramnikVladimir KramnikVladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...
and Veselin TopalovVeselin TopalovVeselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
are also boycotting. - March 2008 - The line-up for the Grand Prix is announced. The top four rated players in the world at the time (Kramnik, Anand, Topalov, Morozevich) are not in the tournament; other eligible players not participating are Alexei ShirovAlexei ShirovAlexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
and Judit PolgárJudit PolgárJudit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
. The Week in ChessThe Week in ChessThe Week in Chess is one of the first, if not the first, Internet-based chess news services.TWIC has been edited by Mark Crowther since its inception in 1994. It began as a weekly Usenet posting, with "TWIC 1" being posted to Usenet group rec.games.chess on 17 September 1994...
reports that Kramnik and Topalov are not participating because the event had insufficient prize money. - April–May 2008 - First Grand Prix tournament takes place in BakuBakuBaku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. - July–August 2008 - Second Grand Prix tournament takes place in SochiSochiSochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, Russia. - November 23, 2008 - QatarQatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, who was scheduled to hold the third Grand Prix beginning on December 13, withdraws as a host nation, and is replaced by ElistaElista-Twin towns/sister cities:Elista is twinned with the following sister cities. Howell, New Jersey, United States Lhasa, Tibet, China. Ulan-Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia-See also:*Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery*Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume-External links:...
, Russia. - November 25, 2008 - Ilyumzhinov announces the new structure (the eight-player Candidates Tournament described above, instead if a two-player Challenger Match).
- November 26, 2008 - The changes are ratified the next day at the FIDE Congress.
- December 5, 2008 - Magnus CarlsenMagnus CarlsenSven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
withdraws from the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 in protest at the changes partway through the cycle. He argues that the Grand Prix players have been disadvantaged, as the winner now qualifies for an eight-player tournament instead of a two-player Challenger Match. - December 6, 2008 - Levon AronianLevon AronianLevon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
issues an open letter of protest, but does not withdraw from the Grand Prix. - December 11, 2008 - Michael Adams withdraws from the Grand Prix for similar reasons to Carlsen.
- December 13, 2008 - The third Grand Prix tournament begins in ElistaElista-Twin towns/sister cities:Elista is twinned with the following sister cities. Howell, New Jersey, United States Lhasa, Tibet, China. Ulan-Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia-See also:*Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery*Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume-External links:...
, Russia, with a number of changes to the playing list (see FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010). - December 15, 2008 - Ilyumzhinov announces that both events will take place (the two-player Challenger Match and the eight-player Candidates Tournament), with a final decision on the structure in March 2009.
- December 16, 2008 - The Association of Chess ProfessionalsAssociation of Chess ProfessionalsThe Association of Chess Professionals is a not-for-profit organisation, the closest thing in existence to a trade union for professional chess players. According to Article 2 of its terms:-History:...
objects to the change, saying, "The system of the World Championship cannot be changed once the cycle has started." - February 11, 2009 - Universal Event Promotion (UEP), the company which organised the World Chess Championship 2008World Chess Championship 2008The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik...
match, submits a bid to host the Candidates Tournament as a series of matches. - March 9, 2009 - FIDE accepts UEP's bid, confirming that an eight-player Candidates Tournament will take place. No mention is made of the Challenger Match. There is also a slight change to the qualification for the Candidates' tournament: two players (rather than one) are to be taken from the ratings list, and the winner of the World Chess Cup 2009 qualifies, but the runner-up does not.
- June 22, 2009 - FIDE announces regulations for the eight-player Candidates Tournament, indicating it will be organised as a series of short matches.
- October 2009 - it is reported that the Candidates matches will be organised by AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, but that the matches involving ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
's Levon AronianLevon AronianLevon Grigor Aronian is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. On the September 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2807, making him number three in the world and Armenia's number one...
will be played elsewhere; and that the matches will be played at the end of 2010 and start of 2011. - October 20, 2009 - The FIDE Executive Board gave an option to London to organise the event and announced that it would only open the bidding procedure if London would not take the option.
- April 20, 2010 - London confirms holding an option to organise the 2012 World Chess Championship.
- July 26, 2010 - The FIDE Presidential Board in Tromso, Norway decides to move the Candidates matches from Azerbaijan to Kazan, Russia, with Mamedyarov's position intact. If Topalov refuses to play in Kazan, Alexander GrischukAlexander GrischukAlexander Igorevich Grischuk is a Russian chess grandmaster and Russian Champion in 2009.-Chess career:In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000, Grischuk he made it to the semifinals, losing to Alexei Shirov....
, the third-place finisher in the FIDE Grand Prix, will take his place. - July 28, 2010 - After learning of FIDE's intention of replacing him with Grischuk should he refuse to play, Topalov backs off of his previous statement refusing to play in Russia, and indicates that he will participate in Kazan.
- July 29, 2010 - Topalov (through his manager) indicates that he would still refuse to play a match against any Russian in Kazan; this could not theoretically happen until the Candidates final, since Kramnik and Grischuk are the only Russians in the Candidates tournament and play in the lower half of the bracket, while Topalov plays in the upper bracket; at the time of this statement, Kramnik was the only Russian in the field.
- November 5, 2010 - Magnus Carlsen decides not to take part in the planned Candidate Matches.
- November 10, 2010 - FIDE announces that Grischuk will replace Carlsen. Any other withdrawals will be replaced by Dmitry JakovenkoDmitry JakovenkoDmitry Olegovich Jakovenko is a Russian chess grandmaster. On the March 2010 FIDE Elo rating list, Jakovenko has a rating of 2725, making him the 20th highest ranked player in the world....
, the fourth-place finisher in the FIDE Grand Prix. - February 3, 2011 - London withdraws its 2012 World Championship bid.
- June 28, 2011 - Moscow confirms bidding to host the 2012 World Championship.
- July 13, 2011 - ChennaiChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
bids to host the 2012 World Championship.