(Almost complete) list World Cup participants published

After publising a provisional list of qualifiers for the 2009 World Cup last month, FIDE has now put online the (almost complete) list of confirmed players who will travel to Khanty-Mansiysk in December. Only the 4 nominees of the local organizers have yet to be announced; the top seeds in Siberia will be Ivanchuk, Morozevich and Radjabov.

The FIDE World Cup 2009 will be a knockout tournament of 128 players, held from November 20th till December 15th, 2009 in Khanty-Maniysk, Russia, just like the previous two World Cups won by Levon Aronian and Gata Kamsky respectively.

Khanty-Mansiysk is an oil boom town in Russia, the administrative center of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. It is located on the Irtysh River, 15 km from its confluence with the Ob. Besides the World Cups, Khanty-Mansiysk was the venue of the 2003 Biathlon World Championships, and in 2005 the first Mixed Biathlon Relay (4×6 km) took place there.

World Cup format

There shall be 6 rounds of matches comprising two 2 games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round, plus the final seventh (7th) round comprising of four (4) games. Round 1 (November 21-23): 128 players Round 2 (November 24-26): 64 players Round 3 (November 27-29): 32 players Round 4 (November 30-December 2): 16 players Round 5 (December 3-5): 8 players Round 6 (December 6-8): 4 players Round 7 (December 10-14): 2 players

The time control shall be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. For the first 6 rounds, each match shall be played over 2 games and the winner of a match shall be the first player to score 1.5 or more points. The final 7th round will be a match played over 4 games and the winner of the World Cup will be the first player to score 2.5 or more points.

Extended tiebreak

This edition will feature an extended format for tiebreaks. A maximum of four rapid games will be played, and if the score is still equal, there will be up to five pairs of blitz games. If the tie is broken after any pair of games, the tiebreak will end. Failing that, an armageddon game will be played, where players will have three-second increments beginning with move 61.

Prize fund

Round 1 losers:   64 x   USD   6,000  (net 4,800)  USD 384,000 
Round 2 losers:   32 x   USD  10,000  (net 8,000)  USD 320,000 
Round 3 losers:   16 x   USD  16,000  (net 12,800) USD 256,000 
Round 4 losers:    8 x   USD  25,000  (net 20,000) USD 200,000 
Round 5 losers:    4 x   USD  35,000  (net 28,000) USD 140,000 
Round 6 losers:    2 x   USD  50,000  (net 40,000) USD 100,000 
Runner-up:         1 x   USD  80,000  (net 64,000) USD  80,000 
World Cup winner:  1 x   USD 120,000  (net 96,000) USD 120,000 
 
Total:                                           USD 1,600,000

Who qualify?

• World Champion;
• 4 semi-finalists from the World Cup 2007;
• Women's World Champion;
• World Junior U-20 Champions 2007 & 2008;
• 20 rated players;
• 90 players from Continental Championships;
• 6 FIDE President nominees;
• 4 organiser nominees.

For the purpose of deciding the 20 rated player qualifiers, as well as any replacements, the average from the following lists will be used; rating of July 2008 plus rating of January 2009 divided by 2.

PARTICIPANTS in the WORLD CUP 2009

a) From World Cup 2007:

01. G. Kamsky (USA)
02. A. Shirov (ESP)
03. S. Karjakin (UKR)

b) Women's World Champion 2008:

04. A. Kosteniuk (RUS)

c) Junior World Champions 2007 & 2008:

05. A. Adly (EGY)
06. A. Gupta (IND)

d) From FIDE Rating List, 22 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009:

07. V. Ivanchuk (UKR) 2780,00
08. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2779,50
09. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2752,50
10. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2734,50
11. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2733,00
12. P. Svidler (RUS) 2730,50
13. A. Grischuk (RUS) 2730,50
14. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2726,50
15. R. Ponomariov (UKR) 2722,00
16. Wang Yue (CHN) 2721,50
17. V. Gashimov (AZE) 2720,00
18. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2713,00
19. L. Dominguez Perez (CUB) 2712,50
20. Ni Hua (CHN) 2707,00
21. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2706,50
22. Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) 2706,00
23. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2704,50
24. J. Polgar (HUN) 2702,00
25. S. Rublevsky (RUS) 2700,50
26. K. Sasikiran (IND) 2697,50
27. Wang Hao (CHN) 2691,00
28. V. Malakhov (RUS) 2690,50

e) 46 players from European Championships 2008 & 2009

29. S. Tiviakov (NED) 2008
30. S. Movsesian (SVK) 2008
31. S. Volkov (RUS) 2008
32. P. Tregubov (RUS) 2008
33. E. L'Ami (NED) 2008
34. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2008
35. B. Grachev (RUS) 2008
36. V. Baklan (UKR) 2008
37. Y. Kryvoruchko (UKR) 2008
38. T. Nyback (FIN) 2008
39. E. Sutovsky (ISR) 2008
40. V. Laznicka (CZE) 2008
41. D. Pavasovic (SLO) 2008
42. Z. Efimenko (UKR) 2008
43. I. Papaioannou (GRE) 2008
44. A. Khalifman (RUS) 2008
45. E. Najer (RUS) 2008
46. D. Andreikin (RUS) 2008
47. G. Sargissian (ARM) 2008
48. J. Gustafsson (GER) 2008
49. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2008
50. I. Smirin (ISR) 2008
51. V. Bologan (MDA) 2008
52. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2009
53. B. Jobava (GEO) 2009
54. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2009
55. I. Sokolov (NED) 2009
56. A. Naiditsch (GER) 2009
57. D. Navara (CZE) 2009
58. M. Kobalia (RUS) 2009
59. G. Guseinov (AZE) 2009
60. G. Meier (GER) 2009
61. F. Nijboer (NED) 2009
62. S. Fedorchuk (UKR) 2009
63. A. Timofeev (RUS) 2009
64. S. Sjugirov (RUS) 2009
65. M. Bartel (POL) 2009
66. R. Mamedov (AZE) 2009
67. B. Savchenko (RUS) 2009
68. K. Sakaev (RUS) 2009
69. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2009
70. T. L. Petrosian (ARM) 2009
71. L. Nisipeanu (ROU) 2009
72. C. Lupulescu (ROU) 2009
73. A. Motylev (RUS) 2009
74. A. Areshchenko (UKR) 2009

f) 19 players from Americas

75. I. Morovic Fernandez (CHI) Zonal 2.5
76. A. Rodriguez Vila (URU) Zonal 2.5
77. R. Hess (USA) Zonal 2.1
78. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1
79. V. Akobian (USA) Zonal 2.1
80. Y. Shulman (USA) Zonal 2.1
81. J. Friedel (USA) Zonal 2.1
82. A. Fier (BRA) Zonal 2.4
83. R. Leitao (BRA) Zonal 2.4
84. L. Bruzon (CUB) Zonal 2.3
85. E. Iturrizaga (VEN) Zonal 2.3
86. J. Hebert (CAN) Zonal 2.2
87. J. Ehlvest (USA) Continental 2008
88. A. Shabalov (USA) Continental 2009
89. F. Corrales Jimenez (CUB) Continental 2009
90. J. Granda Zuniga (PER) Continental 2009
91. G. Milos (BRA) Continental 2009
92. D. Flores (ARG) Continental 2009
93. A. Ivanov (USA) Continental 2009

g) 19 players from Asia/Oceania

94. S. Ganguly (IND) Continental
95. Zhou Weiqi (CHN) Continental
96. Yu Yangyi (CHN) Continental
97. Yu Shaoteng (CHN) Continental
98. Le Quang Liem (VIE) Continental
99. A. Rogelio Jr (PHI) Continental
100. Hou Yifan (CHN) Continental
101. C. Sandipan (IND) Continental
102. A. Kunte (IND) Continental
103. Negi Parimarjan (IND) Continental
104. Zhou Jianchao (CHN) Zonal 3.5
105. Li Chao (CHN) Zonal 3.5
106. D. Smerdon (AUS) Zonal 3.6
107. J. Sriram (IND) Zonal 3.2
108. D. Laylo (PHI) Zonal 3.3
109. Wesley So (PHI) Zonal 3.3
110. Al Sayed, Mohamed N. (QAT) Zonal 3.1
111. Amonatov, A. (TJK) Zonal 3.4
112. Filipov, A. (UZB) Zonal 3.4

g) 6 players from Africa

113. B. Amin (EGY)
114. K. Abdel Razik (EGY)
115. E. El Gindy (EGY)
116. W. Sarwat (EGY)
117. M. Ezat (EGY)
118. A. Rizouk (ALG)

h) 6 nominees of the FIDE President

119. Robson, Ray (USA)
120. Tkachiev, Vladislav (FRA)
121. Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan (IRI)
122. Caruana, Fabiano (ITA)
123. Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL)
124. Pelletier, Yannick (SUI)

i) 4 nominees of the local Organising Committee

125. To be announced...
126. To be announced...
127. To be announced...
128. To be announced...

Total = 128 players

Who declined participation?

What FIDE didn't publish is the list of players who appeared on the provisional list, published at the end of August 2009, but declined participation. They are:

• World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who had qualified from the World Championship Match 2008;
• Magnus Carlsen, who qualified from the World Cup 2007;
• Veselin Topalov, who qualified from the FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009;
• Vladimir Kramnik, who qualified from FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009;
• Peter Leko, who qualified from FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009;
• Levon Aronian, who qualified from FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009;
• Michael Adams, who qualified from FIDE Rating List, 20 players, average 7/2008 & 1/2009;
• Hikaru Nakamura, who qualified from the Americas;

A surprising name in the qualifiers list is that of Ni Hua, wo plays in the London Chess Classic from December 7th to 15th together with Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Luke McShane, David Howell, Vladimir Kramnik, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. It's hard to believe the Chinese grandmaster counts on an early elimination in Khanty-Mansyisk, and indeed plans to play in both events.

Another, positive surprise is the participation of Judit Polgar, who hasn't played very much in recent years. She will first play in Hoogeveen in October, where she meets Ivanchuk, Giri and Tiviakov in the crown group of the Univé Chess Tournament. Apparently a month later she'll be entering the World Championship cycle in Khanty-Mansiysk. The last difference between the provisional list and the current one are the names of Parimarjan Negi and Li Chao as confirmed players. [ebutaljib explains below.]

What's also relevant here is the fact that FIDE still hasn't mentioned anything yet about the 6th Grand Prix event, which was scheduled to be held in December 2009 as well. The overall winner is already known (Levon Aronian) but a 6th GP is necessary to determine the runner-up, who will qualify for the 2010 Candidates Tournament together with Aronian. A GP always runs 17 days (last year the dates were December 13-29) and since several World Cup participants will also play in that last Grand Prix tournament, it's quite unlikely that a last edition will still be squeezed into the calendar before the end of the year.