Thursday, November 12, 2009

Philippine's strongest contender for World Chess Cup at risk of foregoing the tourney


Word is out! Wesley So, Philippines strongest chess player and future world elite, is at risk of not joining the World Chess Cup 2009. Plagued with financial resources, Wesley might sit this one out if none from our government or patrons step up and share the burden of helping out in Wesley's trip. here is Mrs. Leny So's plight for her son relayed to Barangay Wesley Blog:

lenyso
: Greetings to all.

Just to update you about Wes' World Cup:

1. Ticket: none yet. According to Wesley last night, PSC wants to pay only 30%.

2. His visa processing: We paid P8, 000 on our own.

3. Allowance: none yet

4. Allowance for Hotel/Food: none also.

Wesley discussed with me and his sister about his disappointments. He gave his best, but our country did not. It’s a pain to see a son demoralized on the situation. I got teary-eyed, secretly, after hearing from this kid…

As parents, we will try our best for him. He is lucky to have BW who unselfishly supports him.

Sincerely,
lenyso


for details of the prestigious tourney, here is the press release from chessdom


World Chess Cup 2009

Total prize fund of USD 1,600,000

Note: All articles about the event can be found at the World Cup general index, the participants and pairings of round 1 are here.

The 2009 World Chess Cup, an integral part of the World Championship Cycle 2009-2011, will take place in Khanty Mansiysk from 20th November to 15th December. The tournament once again is a knock out event with 128 players. There shall be six (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. 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.

If the scores are level after the regular games, after a new drawing of colours, two tie break games shall be played. The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes on the clock for each player with an addition of 10 seconds after each move. If the scores are level after the games in paragraph 3. 8. 1, then, after a new drawing of colours, 2 five-minute games shall be played with the addition of 10 seconds after each move. If the score is still level, the players shall play one decisive sudden death game. The player, who wins the drawing of lots, may choose the colour. White shall receive 6 minutes, Black shall receive 5 minutes, without any addition. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces is declared as winner.

Qualifying Events for World Cup 2009

There are 128 qualifiers (in order of priority): World Champion (Vishwanathan Anand) + four (4) semi-finalists from the World Cup 2007 (Carlsen, Shirov, Kamsky, and Karjakin), Women's World Champion (Alexandra Kosteniuk), World Junior U-20 Champion 2008 (GM Abhijeet Gupta), twenty (20) rated players, ninety (90) players from Continental Championships, seven (7) FIDE President nominees, four (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. In case of equality two decimals will be taken into consideration. If the numbers are still equal then the number of games from the two periods shall be decisive. That means the player with the greater number of games shall qualify. If the numbers are still equal then the April 2009 list shall be decisive. If the Elo in this list is still the same, the player with the greater number of games in this list will qualify.

It is very probable that Anand and Kamsky decline participation as they are already qualified for the next World Championship cyclce. This is why there are special rules for the replacements. World Champion, semi-finalists of the World Cup 2007, Women's World Champion, World Junior U-20 Champion and rated players can be replaced only from the average rating list. Continental and Zonal qualifiers will be replaced from their respective events, except that in the Zonal Tournament, the replacement must have scored 50% or more in the Zonal event. Otherwise the place passes to the Continental Championship. The average rating list has priority if a player qualifies either from the rating list or a zonal/continental event.

World Cup 2009 pairings

For purposes of pairings the players shall be ranked according to the most recent rating list. In case of equality of two or more players, the player with the greater number of games played during the period covered by the list shall be higher seeded. In case of equal number, the order will be decided by the drawing of lots. Pairings shall follow the principle of top half vs. lower half reversed (1-128, 2-127...). Thus the highest ranked player of the top half shall play the lowest ranked player of the bottom half. The second ranked player of the top half shall play the penultimate ranked player of the bottom half.

Prize fund

Round 1 losers: 64 x USD 6,000
Round 2 losers: 32 x USD 10,000
Round 3 losers: 16 x USD 16,000
Round 4 losers: 8 x USD 25,000
Round 5 losers: 4 x USD 35,000
Round 6 losers: 2 x USD 50,000
Runner-up: 1 x USD 80,000
World Cup winner: 1 x USD 120,000

Total prize fund: USD 1 600 000

Note: According to the FIDE regulation 3.9.2 "A payment of 20% from the above prize fund shall be made to FI­DE."

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