Ding Liren earns the final spot in the Candidates 2022
Seven out of the eight Candidates were already determined in late March this year. Ding Liren was trying to fulfill the minimum number of rated games requirement to be eligible for Candidates 2022. He not only climbed to the World no.2 position in the process, much to nobody's surprise, he earned his way into the Candidates 2022 too. He will replace Sergey Karjakin who was banned earlier by the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. Appeal Chamber of the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) announced its decision to dismiss Karjakin's appeal on 6th May 2022. Candidates tournament starts on 17th June 2022 and the winner will play the FIDE World Championship Match in 2023. Photo: FIDE
Pairings and Tie-break format revealed
The drawing of lots for the FIDE Candidates Tournament was carried out on 28th April during the FIDE Council in Abu Dhabi, in a ceremony organized by the Chief Arbiter for the event, Anastasia Sorokina.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich drew the lots for Ian Nepomniachtchi, who will play under the FIDE flag. FIDE Deputy president Bachar Kouatly drew the lots for Alireza Firouzja, Michael Khodarkovsky for Fabiano Caruana (a number was automatically assigned to Hikaru Nakamura), Mahir Mammedov for Teimour Radjabov, Zhu Chen for Richard Rapport, and Łukasz Turlej for Jan–Krzysztof Duda.
These are the starting numbers:
1. GM Jan–Krzysztof Duda
2. GM Ding Liren
3. GM Fabiano Caruana
4. GM Teimour Radjabov
5. GM Alireza Firouzja
6. GM Hikaru Nakamura
7. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi
8. GM Richard Rapport
Format and System
The eight players play a double round-robin tournament (14 rounds). The winner qualifies for the 2023 FIDE World Championship Match.
Pairings
Round 1, June 17
Duda – Rapport
Ding Liren – Nepomniachtchi
Caruana – Nakamura
Radjabov – Firouzja
Round 2, June 18
Rapport – Firouzja
Nakamura – Radjabov
Nepomniachtchi – Caruana
Duda – Ding Liren
Round 3, June 19
Ding Liren – Rapport
Caruana – Duda
Radjabov – Nepomniachtchi
Firouzja – Nakamura
Round 4, June 21
Rapport – Nakamura
Nepomniachtchi – Firouzja
Duda – Radjabov
Ding Liren – Caruana
Round 5, June 22
Caruana – Rapport
Radjabov – Ding Liren
Firouzja – Duda
Nakamura – Nepomniachtchi
Round 6, June 23
Radjabov – Rapport
Firouzja – Caruana
Nakamura – Ding Liren
Nepomniachtchi – Duda
Round 7, June 25
Rapport – Nepomniachtchi
Duda – Nakamura
Ding Liren – Firouzja
Caruana – Radjabov
Round 8, June 26
Rapport – Duda
Nepomniachtchi – Ding Liren
Nakamura – Caruana
Firouzja – Radjabov
Round 9, June 27
Firouzja – Rapport
Radjabov – Nakamura
Caruana – Nepomniachtchi
Ding Liren – Duda
Round 10, June 29
Rapport – Ding Liren
Duda – Caruana
Nepomniachtchi – Radjabov
Nakamura – Firouzja
Round 11, June 30
Nakamura – Rapport
Firouzja – Nepomniachtchi
Radjabov – Duda
Caruana – Ding Liren
Round 12, July 1
Rapport – Caruana
Ding Liren – Radjabov
Duda – Firouzja
Nepomniachtchi – Nakamura
Round 13, July 3
Nepomniachtchi – Rapport
Nakamura – Duda
Firouzja – Ding Liren
Radjabov – Caruana
Round 14, July 4
Rapport – Radjabov
Caruana – Firouzja
Ding Liren – Nakamura
Duda – Nepomniachtchi
Tiebreaker Playoff format
As per the decision made at the FIDE Council meeting on December 27, a playoff system has been introduced for the Candidates Tournament to be played in the case of a tie for first place.
This decision has been taken after consultation with all the players who have already qualified for the competition. A majority of them favoured a play-off over the tie-break system used in previous editions. The play-off will be played no matter how many players tie for first. The system includes rapid and blitz games, in case only rapid is not enough.
Here are the key points of a new play-off system:
In case of a tie for first place in the Candidates Tournament, a play-off will be played that may consist of up to three stages.
Stage I
If there are two players tied for the first place they will play a match of two rapid games (15 min + 10 sec).
In case of a 3-6-way tie, a round-robin rapid tournament will be played (15 min + 10 sec).
Stage II (played in case of a tie after Stage I)
If there are two players tied they will play a match of two blitz games (3 min + 2 sec).
In case of a three-way tie (or more) a round-robin blitz tournament will be played (3 min + 2 sec).
Stage III (played in case of a tie after Stage II)
In case of a tie, depending on number of players, either knockout match or knockout tournament will be played. Each match consists of a single blitz game (3 min +2 sec). The colours are determined by drawing of lots. In case of a draw, another game will be played with the colours reversed. If there is another draw, the opponents will play until the decisive outcome.
The Regulations for the event have been updated with the new rules and they can be found under paragraph 4.4.2. The Candidates Tournament 2022 will take place in Madrid, Spain, from June 16 to July 5.
Links
Tie-break and Playoff announcement
