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FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010

Chess tournament series

Field	Value
name	FIDE Grand Prix Series 2008–10
sport	Chess
image	LevonAronian14a.jpg
caption	FIDE Grand Prix 2008–10 winner Levon Aronian
location	Azerbaijan Baku
Russia Sochi
Russia Elista
Russia Nalchik
Armenia Jermuk
Russia Astrakhan
start_date	19 April 2008
end_date
25 May 2010
administrator	FIDE
tournament_format	Series of round-robin tournaments
champion	Armenia Levon Aronian
runners-up1	Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov
next	FIDE Grand Prix 2012–13

Russia Sochi Russia Elista Russia Nalchik Armenia Jermuk Russia Astrakhan 25 May 2010 | runners-up1 = Azerbaijan Teimour Radjabov The FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010 was a series of six chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification for the World Chess Championship 2012. It was administered by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. The event was won by Levon Aronian, with Teimour Radjabov second and Alexander Grischuk third.

The top two finishers formed two of the eight players who played in the 2011 Candidates Tournament to determine the challenger for the world champion. After Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Candidates, Grischuk took his place, due to his third place in the Grand Prix.

The winner of the Grand Prix was originally scheduled to play a match in 2010 against the winner of the Chess World Cup 2009, with the winner of that match becoming the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2012. On 25 November, 2008, FIDE announced major changes, with the winner and runner-up qualifying instead for an eight-player Candidates Tournament. This caused a number of protests, with Magnus Carlsen and Michael Adams withdrawing, and two other players being replaced. (For details, see World Chess Championship 2012.)

A number of host cities withdrew, causing all the tournaments except the first two to be rescheduled.

Format

There were six tournaments spread over 2008, 2009 and 2010. Each of the 21 participating players were originally scheduled to play in exactly four of the six tournaments; though this was complicated when some players withdrew partway through.

Each tournament was a 14 player, single round-robin tournament. In each round players scored 1 point for a win, point for a draw and 0 for a loss. Grand Prix points were then allocated according to each player's standing in the tournament: 180 Grand Prix points for first place, 150 for second place, 130 for third place, and then 110 down to 10 points for places four to fourteen (decreasing by 10 points for each place). (Grand Prix points were split between players on equal tournament points).

Players only counted their best three tournament results. The player with the most Grand Prix points was the winner.

If a tie-break was needed for the overall Grand Prix winner, the system was:

The fourth result not already in the top three performances
The number of actual game points scored in the four tournaments
The number of first-place finishes
The number of second-place finishes
The number of won games
Drawing of lots

Tournament dates

The tournament dates and locations were as follows:

20 April – 6 May, 2008, Baku, Azerbaijan
30 July – 15 August, 2008, Sochi, Russia
13–29 December, 2008, Elista, Russia (rescheduled from Doha, Qatar, in November 2008)
14–30 April, 2009, Nalchik, Russia (rescheduled from Montreux, Switzerland)
9–24 August, 2009, Jermuk, Armenia (rescheduled from Elista, Russia)
9–25 May, 2010, Astrakhan, Russia (rescheduled from Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, in October 2009)

Draw rules

A variation from normal chess rules was that the players were not allowed to talk to each other during the game and a draw by agreement was not allowed. A draw had to be claimed with the arbiter, who was assisted by an active grandmaster who had the title for at least ten years. The only draws allowed (except for stalemate) were:

Threefold repetition of position
Fifty-move rule
Perpetual check
A theoretical draw.

Participants

Qualification

The four players who (at the start of 2008) were still in contention for the 2008 and 2010 championships qualified: Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky.
Apart from the winner Kamsky, the next top three finishers at the Chess World Cup 2007 qualified: Alexei Shirov, Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen.
Seven players were selected on rating. The rating used was the average of the January and October 2007 ratings. FIDE released a list of the top 25 players according to this formula. The first seven players on the list (apart from those who had otherwise qualified) had automatic qualification: Vassily Ivanchuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Leko, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov and Boris Gelfand. FIDE also announced that the first four reserves, in order, were Michael Adams, Peter Svidler, Judit Polgár and Alexander Grischuk.
The FIDE president was allowed to nominate one player from the top 40 in the world. If there were withdrawals, he was allowed to nominate more than one.
The six host cities were allowed to each nominate one player rated above 2500. The host cities nominated the following players:
- Baku, Azerbaijan – Vugar Gashimov
- Sochi, Russia – Dmitry Jakovenko
- Doha, Qatar – Mohamad Al-Modiahki
- Montreux, Switzerland – Yannick Pelletier
- Elista, Russia – Ernesto Inarkiev
- Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic – David Navara

Prominent non-participants

Of the original 14 players who qualified, Anand, Kramnik and Topalov (2008/2010 contenders), Shirov (World Cup 2007) and Morozevich (ratings list) were all not taking part. One of the first four nominated reserves, Judit Polgár, was also not participating. The lineup for the Grand Prix included 13 of the 20 top-rated Grandmasters at the time it was announced, though none of the top four.

The only one to publicly give a reason was Alexander Morozevich, who announced that he was boycotting the Grand Prix, saying the process was too long, unwieldy and disorganised. He claimed that Anand, Kramnik and Topalov were also boycotting. The Week in Chess reported that Kramnik and Topalov were not participating because the event had insufficient prize money.

Josef Resch of Universal Event Promotion (organizer of 2008 World Championship) also spoke about the difficulties in organizational details with FIDE in the totality of the World Chess Championship cycle.

Original participants

On 5 March, 2008, FIDE released the list of participants, along with their world rankings according to the January 2008 ratings list (shown here in brackets).

1 from the 2008/2010 cycle: Gata Kamsky (15).
2 from the Chess World Cup 2007: Magnus Carlsen (13), Sergey Karjakin (14).
6 from the rating list: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6), Peter Leko (8), Vassily Ivanchuk (9), Levon Aronian (10), Boris Gelfand (11), Teimour Radjabov (12)
2 from the reserve ratings list: Michael Adams (16), Alexander Grischuk (21)
4 FIDE president nominees: Peter Svidler (5), Ivan Cheparinov (19), Étienne Bacrot (22), Wang Yue (25).
6 Host city nominees: Dmitry Jakovenko (17), Ernesto Inarkiev (34), David Navara (37), Vugar Gashimov (48), Yannick Pelletier (165), Mohamad Al-Modiahki (274).

Changes after the second and third tournaments

After Doha and Montreux refused to host tournaments, their nominees Al-Modiahki and Pelletier were removed from the series. Carlsen and Adams withdrew from the Grand Prix. These players were replaced by Evgeny Alekseev, Pavel Eljanov, Rustam Kasimdzhanov (from the rating list) and Vladimir Akopian (Jermuk nominee) from the third tournament onwards.

After Karlovy Vary withdrew in January 2009 (after the third tournament), the Karlovy Vary nominee David Navara was also excluded from the Grand Prix, and was not replaced.

Prize money and Grand Prix points

The regulations indicated the following disbursement of prize monies and Grand Prix points.

Place	Single Grand Prix event	Overall standings	Grand Prix points
1	€30,000	€75,000	180
2	€22,500	€50,000	150
3	€20,000	€40,000	130
4	€15,000	€30,000	110
5	€12,500	€25,000	100
6	€11,000	€20,000	90
7	€10,000	€18,000	80
8	€8,500	€16,000	70
9	€7,500	€14,000	60
10	€6,000	€12,000	50
11	€5,500	–	40
12	€5,000	–	30
13	€4,500	–	20
14	€4,000	–	10

For each event there was 162,000 euros available (for 14 players), and 300,000 euros in the overall standings (top 10).

Events crosstables

Baku, April–May 2008

The first Grand Prix event began on 20 April and concluded on 5 May. (Elo average 2717, Cat. XIX).

The final crosstable was as follows:

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total	Grand Prix points
1–3	Vugar Gashimov	2679					1		1		1						8
1–3	Wang Yue	2689							1			1	1				8
1–3	Magnus Carlsen	2765				0		1		1					1	1	8
4–5	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	2752			1							1	0	1	1	0	****
4–5	Alexander Grischuk	2716	0										1	1		1	****
6–7	Michael Adams	2729			0				1		0	0	1	1			****
6–7	Peter Svidler	2746	0	0				0			1	1				1	****
8–10	Teimour Radjabov	2751			0						1		0	0	1		6
8–10	Gata Kamsky	2726	0					1	0	0						1	6
8–10	Sergey Karjakin	2732		0		0		1	0							1	6
11–12	Ivan Cheparinov	2696		0		1	0	0		1				0	0	1	****
11–12	David Navara	2672				0	0	0		1			1			0	****
13–14	Étienne Bacrot	2705			0	0				0			1			0	5
13–14	Ernesto Inarkiev	2684			0	1	0		0		0	0	0	1	1		5

Sochi, July–August 2008

The second Grand Prix event began on 31 July and concluded on 14 August. (Elo average 2708, Cat. XIX).

The final crosstable was as follows:

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total	Grand Prix points
1	Levon Aronian	2737								0		1	1	1	1	1
2	Teimour Radjabov	2744			0		0		1				1	1	1	1	8
3–4	Wang Yue	2704		1										1
3–4	Gata Kamsky	2723								1			0		1	1
5–7	Peter Svidler	2738		1				1	0	0	1		0			1	7
5–7	Dmitry Jakovenko	2709					0				1		1				7
5–7	Sergey Karjakin	2727		0			1					0	1			1	7
8–9	Vasyl Ivanchuk	2781	1			0	1							0
8–9	Vugar Gashimov	2717					0	0							1	1
10–11	Alexander Grischuk	2728	0						1				0				6
10–11	Ivan Cheparinov	2687	0	0		1	1	0	0			1					6
12	Boris Gelfand	2720	0	0	0					1
13–14	David Navara	2646	0	0		0					0					0	4
13–14	Mohammed Al-Modiahki	2556	0	0		0	0		0		0				1		4

Elista, December 2008

The third Grand Prix event began on 14 December and concluded on 28 December. (Elo average 2713, Cat. XIX).

The final crosstable was as follows:

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total	Grand Prix points
1–3	Teimour Radjabov	2751						1			1		1	1		0	8
1–3	Dmitry Jakovenko	2737								1	1					1	8
1–3	Alexander Grischuk	2719				0	1			1			1	1			8
4	Vugar Gashimov	2703			1		0		1					1
5–9	Peter Leko	2747			0	1		0				1
5–9	Étienne Bacrot	2705	0				1
5–9	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	2731				0								1
5–9	Wang Yue	2736		0	0							1		1
5–9	Rustam Kasimdzhanov	2672	0	0								1	0		1	1
10	Ivan Cheparinov	2696					0			0	0		1	0	1	1	6
11–12	Evgeny Alekseev	2715	0		0						1	0		0	1
11–12	Pavel Eljanov	2720	0		0	0			0	0		1	1			1
13–14	Vladimir Akopian	2679									0	0	0				5
13–14	Ernesto Inarkiev	2669	1	0							0	0		0			5

Nalchik, April 2009

The fourth Grand Prix event began on 14 April and concluded on 29 April. (Elo average 2725, Cat. XX).

The final crosstable was as follows:

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total	Grand Prix points
1	Levon Aronian	2754		1	1						0		1	1		1
2–3	Peter Leko	2751	0		1				1						1
2–3	Vladimir Akopian	2696	0	0			1			1	1					1
4–5	Alexander Grischuk	2748					1	1	1	0			0	0	1		7
4–5	Étienne Bacrot	2728			0	0		1			1		1				7
6–7	Evgeny Alekseev	2716				0	0				1					1
6–7	Boris Gelfand	2733		0		0					1		1		1	0
8–11	Gata Kamsky	2720			0	1					0	1				0	6
8–11	Sergey Karjakin	2721	1		0		0	0	0	1		1					6
8–11	Peter Svidler	2726								0	0		0	1		1	6
8–11	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	2725	0			1	0		0			1					6
12–14	Vasyl Ivanchuk	2746	0			1						0			0
12–14	Rustam Kasimdzhanov	2695		0		0			0					1
12–14	Pavel Eljanov	2693	0		0			0	1	1		0

Jermuk, August 2009

The fifth Grand Prix event began on 8 August and concluded on 24 August. (Elo average 2719, Cat. XIX).

Aronian took equal second, sufficient for him to win the Grand Prix.

The final crosstable was as follows:

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total	Grand Prix points
1	Vasyl Ivanchuk	2703		1		1							1			1
2–3	Boris Gelfand	2755	0		0		1	1						1	1	1	8
2–3	Levon Aronian	2768		1		1	0			0	1		1		1		8
4–6	Evgeny Alekseev	2714	0		0					1	1			1	1
4–6	Rustam Kasimdzhanov	2672		0	1										1	1
4–6	Peter Leko	2756		0					1						1	1
7	Sergey Karjakin	2717						0				1		1			7
8	Pavel Eljanov	2716			1	0					0					1
9–10	Gata Kamsky	2717			0	0				1			0		1		6
9–10	Étienne Bacrot	2721							0				1		0		6
11–12	Dmitry Jakovenko	2760			0						1	0			0	0	5
11–12	Vladimir Akopian	2712	0	0					0								5
13	Ernesto Inarkiev	2675		0	0	0	0	0			0	1	1
14	Ivan Cheparinov	2678	0	0		0	0	0		0			1				4

Astrakhan, May 2010

The sixth Grand Prix event began on 9 May and concluded on 25 May. (Elo average 2730, Cat. XX).

The final crosstable was as follows:

Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total	Grand Prix points
1	Pavel Eljanov	2751					0		0	1	1	1			1	1	8
2–6	Ruslan Ponomariov	2733	1	1	0								1	1			7
2–6	Dmitry Jakovenko	2725							1								7
2–6	Teimour Radjabov	2740	0			1										1	7
2–6	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	2763					1	0		1	0				1		7
2–6	Evgeny Alekseev	2700	1			0				0					1	1	7
7–9	Vugar Gashimov	2734							0	0				1	1
7–9	Peter Leko	2735	0	1		0	1
7–9	Wang Yue	2752	0													1
10–11	Peter Svidler	2735						1	0						0		6
10–11	Boris Gelfand	2741				1							0		0		6
12–14	Vassily Ivanchuk	2741		0					0						0	0
12–14	Vladimir Akopian	2694	0				0				0	0		1	1
12–14	Ernesto Inarkiev	2669	0	0		0	0	1					1	1		0

Grand Prix standings

Grand Prix points in bold indicate a tournament win. A number in brackets is a player's worst result of four and doesn't add to the total.

Aronian scored enough points to win the Grand Prix before the last event took place. Hence he decided not to play the last tournament of the Grand Prix.

Player	Qual.	Baku	Sochi	Elista	Nalchik	Jermuk	Astrakhan	Played	Best 3
1	Levon Aronian	RL	–	180	–	180	140	–	3
2	Teimour Radjabov	RL	(60)	150	****	–	–	116	4
3	Alexander Grischuk	RR	105	(45)	****	105	–	–	4
4	Dmitry Jakovenko	HC	–	90	****	–	(35)	116	4
5	Wang Yue	PR	****	120	80	–	–	(70)	4
6	Vugar Gashimov	HC	****	(65)	110	–	–	70	4
7	Peter Leko	RL	–	–	80	140	100	(70)	4
8	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	RL	105	–	80	(55)	–	116	4
9	Evgeny Alekseev	RR	–	–	(35)	85	100	116	4
10	Pavel Eljanov	RR	not qualified	35	(20)	70	180	4	285
11	Boris Gelfand	RL	–	(30)	–	85	140	45	4
12	Vasyl Ivanchuk	RL	–	65	–	20	180	(20)	4
13	Étienne Bacrot	PR	(15)	–	80	105	55	–	4
14	Gata Kamsky	CH	60	120	–	55	(55)	–	4
15	Sergey Karjakin	CP	60	90	–	(55)	80	–	4
16	Peter Svidler	PR	85	90	–	55	–	(45)	4
17	Rustam Kasimdjanov	RR	not qualified	80	20	100	–	3	200
18	Vladimir Akopian	HC	not qualified	(15)	140	35	20	4	195
19	Ivan Cheparinov	PR	35	45	50	–	(10)	–	4
20	Ruslan Ponomariov	RR	not qualified	116	1	116
21	Ernesto Inarkiev	HC	15	–	(15)	–	20	20	4
–	Magnus Carlsen	CP	****	–	withdrew	1
–	Michael Adams	RR	85	–	withdrew	1
–	David Navara	HC	35	15	–	–	excluded	2
–	Mohamad Al-Modiahki	HC	–	15	excluded	1
–	Yannick Pelletier	HC	–	–	excluded	0

Qual. = Qualification: CH = World Championship, CP = World Cup, RL = rating list, RR = reserve rating list, PR = presidential nominee, HC = host city nominee

Notes: Gata Kamsky was later granted a place in the 2012 Candidates Tournament as runner-up of the 2009 Challenger Match. Boris Gelfand qualified for the Candidates Tournament by winning the Chess World Cup 2009. Magnus Carlsen qualified for the Candidates Tournament by rating (average of July 2009 and January 2010 FIDE rating lists). Later Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the Candidates Tournament, and he was replaced by Alexander Grischuk, who took third place in the Grand Prix. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was later granted a place in the Candidates Tournament as the organisers' wild card.

Notes

References

(19 April 2008). "First FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan". [[ChessBase]].
"Regulations for the 2008 - 2009 FIDE Grand-Prix". [[FIDE]].
"Chess Grand Prix 2008-2009 (updated) rules, matches, qualifiers, participants". Chessdom.
(23 November 2008). "Next Grand Prix Event in Elista - Press Release". FIDE.
(19 January 2009). "Grand Prix Karlovy Vary Cancelled". The Week in Chess.
link. (13 October 2009). Website of [[Alexander Zhilkin]]
"Regulations for the 2008 - 2009 FIDE Grand-Prix". FIDE.
"Top 25 Players". FIDE.
(6 February 2008). "FIDE announces its Grand Prix Circuit 2008/09". ChessBase.
(27 February 2008). "Morozevich drops out of FIDE Grand Prix". ChessBase.
(17 March 2008). "The Week in Chess 697". The Week in Chess.
(19 May 2009). "'I am ready to resume negotiations with FIDE'". ChessBase.
[https://old.fide.com/component/content/article/3-news/1541-32-fide-grand-prix-participants-host-cities-schedule FIDE Grand Prix. Participants, host cities, schedule.]{{Dead link. (March 2024)
(11 December 2008). "Grand Prix: Adams also out; Akopian, Alekseev, Eljanov & Kasimdzhanov in". Chessvibes.
"Regulations for the 2008 - 2009 FIDE Grand-Prix". FIDE.
(5 May 2008). "The Week in Chess 704". The Week in Chess.
[https://jermuk2009.fide.com/13.html Round 13 Report, Jermuk Grand Prix]

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