The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) is organising the fourth World Rapid Cup in Odessa, Ukraine from 27-29 May.
The format is a 16-player KO, with paired opponents playing 2 rapid games (20 minutes per game plus 5 second increments). Ties are broken by a pair of blitz games (3 minutes per game plus 2 second increment) and if necessary an Armageddon game (white has 5 minutes, black 4 minutes and draw odds). The final will have four rapid games, with the winner getting USD14,000.
The results so far:
1st Round
| Grischuk, Alexander |
2.0-0.0 |
Motylev, Alexander |
| Movsesian, Sergei |
1.5-0.5 |
Naiditsch, Arkadij |
| Shirov, Alexei |
3.0-2.0 |
Bacrot, Etienne |
| Karjakin, Sergey |
3.0-1.0 |
Drozdovskij, Yuri |
| Eljanov, Pavel |
1.5-0.5 |
Moiseenko, Alexander |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily |
0.5-1.5 |
Gurevich, Mikhail |
| Jakovenko, Dmitry |
2.0-0.0 |
Inarkiev, Ernesto |
| Gashimov, Vugar |
3.0-2.0 |
Tregubov, Pavel |
Quarter-Finals
| Grischuk, Alexander |
1.5-0.5 |
Movsesian, Sergei |
| Shirov, Alexei |
2.0-3.0 |
Karjakin, Sergey |
| Eljanov, Pavel |
0.5-1.5 |
Jakovenko, Dmitry |
| Gurevich, Mikhail |
1.5-0.5 |
Gashimov, Vugar |
In a rapid event one might expect more suprises, but the results have mostly gone according to rating so far, with the notable exception of 51-year old Mikhail Gurevich beating both Ivanchuk and Gashimov to reach the semi-finals!
The semi-finals are currently underway, with Grischuk playing Karjakin, and Jakovenko playing Gurevich. The official site with more details is here, with live coverage here.