FIDE World Cup 2011

The 2011 FIDE World Cup will take place from 28 August - 20 September in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

The tournament will follow the familiar KO format of previous World Cup events, with paired players meeting in two-game mini-matches, with rapid tie-breaks if needed (the final over 4 games).

The winner of the last World Cup in 2009 was Boris Gelfand, who went on to win the Candidates Matches in Kazan to earn the right to challenge Vishy Anand for the title of World Chess Champion in 2012.

For this world Cup, it's not just the winner who will advance to the "Candidates" stage, but the runner-up and third placed player as well.  Which might make the 3/4th place playoff more tense than the final!

Each round starts at 15:00 local time (09:00 UTC).  The schedule:

The time control for the regular games is 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 second increment from the start.

Rapid games are at 25 minutes plus 10 second increment, and if scores are still level then 10 minutes plus 10 second increment, 5 minutes plus 3 second increment, and finally sudden-death 5 min v 4 min with a 3 second increment after move 60.

The official website for the event can be found here.

The full draw for the first round matches:

The 8 participants in the next Candidates cycle (now due to be a tournament) will be:

• The loser of the Vishy Anand v Boris Gelfand world title match in 2012
• The top three finishers in the 2011 World Cup
• The next three highest rated players (average from July 2011 and January 2012 rating lists)
• A wildcard selection from the organisers (min Elo 2700)

Look out for news reports right here at Chess.com!