Carlsen Draws White For 1st Game World Cup
Magnus Carlsen will start with the white pieces in his first game on Sunday at the FIDE World Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia. This was the result of the drawing of lots, performed today during the opening ceremony.
The technical meeting after the opening ceremony. | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
Other players who will play with White tomorrow are Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, and Alexander Grischuk. Players such as Wesley So, Vladimir Kramnik, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vishy Anand start with Black.
Below you can find the full pairings for game 1, round 1 on Sunday:
2017 World Cup | Round 1, Day 1 Pairings
| Fed | White | Fed | Black |
| GM Carlsen, M (2827) | FM Balogun, O (2255) | ||
| GM Dreev, A (2648) | GM Bachmann, A (2634) | ||
| GM Fier, A (2569) | GM Bacrot, E (2728) | ||
| GM Bu Xiangzhi (2714) | GM Flores, Diego (2580) | ||
| GM Vakhidov, J (2518) | GM Svidler, P (2756) | ||
| GM Amin, Bassem (2699) | GM Erdos, Viktor (2619) | ||
| GM Wojtaszek, R (2739) | GM El Debs, F (2533) | ||
| GM Zherebukh, Y (2621) | GM Onischuk, A (2682) | ||
| IM Khusenkhojaev (2455) | GM Vachier-Lagr (2804) | ||
| GM Grachev, B (2654) | GM Melkumyan, H (2642) | ||
| GM Eljanov, P (2734) | GM Lenderman, A (2565) | ||
| GM Tari, Aryan (2588) | GM Howell, D (2701) | ||
| GM Grischuk, A (2788) | GM El Gindy, E (2455) | ||
| GM Cori, Jorge (2648) | GM Jones, G (2668) | ||
| GM Hjartarson (2539) | GM Navara, David (2720) | ||
| GM Cheparinov (2695) | GM Mastrovasilis (2573) | ||
| Dai, Changren (2422) | GM Kramnik, V (2803) | ||
| GM Areshchenko (2645) | GM Demchenko, A (2650) | ||
| GM Ivanchuk, V (2727) | GM Kazhgaleyev (2570) | ||
| GM Pantsulaia (2593) | GM Duda, J (2698) | ||
| GM Giri, Anish (2777) | GM Dzagnidze, N (2519) | ||
| GM Xiong, J (2633) | GM Motylev, A (2668) | ||
| GM Gonzalez Vidal (2547) | GM Harikrishna (2741) | ||
| GM Ponomariov (2694) | GM Sethuraman, SP (2617) | ||
| GM Aronian, L (2802) | IM Cawdery, D (2449) | ||
| GM Piorun, K (2644) | GM Hou Yifan (2670) | ||
| GM Sadorra, J (2574) | GM Matlakov, M (2728) | ||
| GM Andreikin, D (2708) | GM Goganov, A (2567) | ||
| IM Smirnov, A (2508) | GM Karjakin, S (2780) | ||
| GM Dubov, Daniil (2666) | GM Fridman, D (2625) | ||
| GM Radjabov, T (2742) | GM Ziska, H (2545) | ||
| GM Bok, Benjamin (2620) | GM Artemiev, V (2692) | ||
| IM Ruiz Castillo (2377) | GM So, Wesley (2792) | ||
| GM Mareco, S (2649) | GM Bluebaum, M (2633) | ||
| GM Vallejo Pons (2717) | GM Karthikeyan (2574) | ||
| GM Antipov, M (2578) | GM Tomashevsky (2710) | ||
| GM Nepomniachtc (2741) | GM Palac, Mladen (2535) | ||
| GM Nguyen, N (2629) | GM Adhiban, B (2670) | ||
| GM Pourramezana (2534) | GM Yu Yangyi (2750) | ||
| GM Jobava, B (2702) | GM Salgado Lopez (2627) | ||
| GM Nakamura, H (2781) | GM Mollah Abdul (2454) | ||
| GM Bruzon Batista, L (2651) | GM Anton Guijarro (2656) | ||
| GM Bacallao Alonso,Y (2573) | GM Fedoseev, V (2731) | ||
| GM Inarkiev, E (2694) | GM Mchedlishvili (2607) | ||
| IM Yeoh, Li Tian (2478) | GM Anand, V (2794) | ||
| GM Akobian, V (2662) | GM Kovalyov, A (2649) | ||
| GM Adams, M (2738) | GM Batchuluun (2566) | ||
| GM Hovhannisyan (2594) | GM Rodshtein, M (2695) | ||
| GM Caruana, F (2799) | GM Solomon, K (2398) | ||
| GM Lenic, Luka (2646) | GM Fressinet, L (2657) | ||
| GM Kulaots, K (2571) | GM Vitiugov, N (2728) | ||
| GM Najer, E (2694) | GM Aleksandrov (2580) | ||
| GM Sambuev, B (2529) | GM Wei Yi (2748) | ||
| GM Rapport, R (2675) | GM Cordova, E (2616) | ||
| GM Li Chao (2745) | GM Krysa, L (2540) | ||
| GM Sevian, S (2610) | GM Nisipeanu, L (2674) | ||
| IM Liu, Guanchu (2455) | GM Mamedyarov (2797) | ||
| GM Kuzubov, Y (2688) | GM Zhigalko, S (2642) | ||
| GM Gelfand, B (2737) | GM Stupak, K (2579) | ||
| GM Sengupta, D (2589) | GM Wang Hao (2701) | ||
| GM Ding Liren (2771) | GM Haddouche, M (2487) | ||
| GM Kovalenko, I (2634) | GM Kravtsiv, M (2670) | ||
| GM Kunin, Vitaly (2531) | GM Le, Quang Liem (2739) | ||
| GM Vidit, S (2702) | GM Delgado Ramirez, N (2614) |
The drawing of lots, conducted by Chief Arbiter Tomasz Delega of Poland, was a short affair that was part of the official opening ceremony on Saturday. It took place in the Funicular Restaurant Complex at the high end of Tbilisi's funicular, providing stunning views over the city.
The view from the funicular. | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
At a tasty dinner some special guests toasted on the start of the tournament. | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
Speeches were given by the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia Tariel Khechikashvili, the President of the Georgian Chess Federation Giorgi Giorgadze, the President of the European Chess Union and Chairman of the World Cup's Appeals Committee Zurab Azmaiparashvili, and FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos.
FIDE Deputy (but acting) President Georgios Makropoulos and American Continental President Jorge Vega. | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
Organizers Geoffrey Borg (FIDE, left), Zurab Azmaiparashvili (on the phone) together with Magnus Carlsen and Peter Heine Nielsen watching the dancing which was beautiful but took so long that some players didn't even stay until the drawing of lots. | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
The colors for drawing of lots were prepared inside the traditional Georgian wine storage jars, called "kvevri", next to them, hand-painted, are "pialas", the traditional wine goblets. | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
Borg here together with GM Nona Gaprindashvili and Carlsen, with his white-color-kvevri, happy to be free from his duties for today!? | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
The traditional dancing—also tradtional for FIDE events! | Photo Chess.com/Maria Emelianova.
From Sunday onwards the games will be played in the "Hotels & Preference Hualing," located 6km outside the city center. Each round will consist of two classical games, and possibly a rapid & blitz tiebreak on the third day. The final will consist of four classical games.
The total prize fund is $1.6 million with the first prize of $120,000. Besides, the top two finishers will qualify for the 2018 Candidates' Tournament. In case Magnus Carlsen or Sergey Karjakin qualify for the final, a match for 3rd and 4th place (and thus the other qualification spot) will be played.
Chess.com will relay the games at Chess.com/Live. Besides, you can watch live commentary on Chess.com/TV provided by the Chessbrahs, which includes some of the best commentators of the planet: GM Eric Hansen, GM Robin van Kampen, GM Yasser Seirawan and IM Aman Hambleton.
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