FIDE reforms qualifications paths to Candidates Tournament
The FIDE Council approved a major reform of the qualification paths to the Candidates Tournament – the event that decides the challenger for the World Championship match. The main innovation is creating a new qualification path through different FIDE-rated tournaments. Tournaments that meet certain criteria, like being played under standard time control, supervised by International Arbiters, and where Fair Play measures are applied (among other criteria listed below in detail), will grant points towards the “FIDE Circuit”. The player with more points at the end of 2023 will get the coveted spot in the most prestigious of all chess tournaments. The second main change consists of increasing the number of qualification spots at the World Cup from 2 to 3. Already a flagship event, the popularity and importance of the World Cup keep increasing even further, and this extra spot would add more interest for the match for the 3rd-4th place. FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 Eight players shall qualify for FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 by the following criteria: Path A. 1 spot – FIDE World Championship Match 2023, Runner-up (Ian Nepomniachtchi or Ding Liren)* Path B. 3 spots – FIDE World Cup 2023 (Baku 2023), three players who finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd. If any of these players already qualified for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 or the FIDE World Championship Match 2024 at the moment of the beginning of World Cup via another qualification path, the qualification spot(s) shall be be awarded, in order of priority: – the player who finished in 4th place in the World Cup; – according to rating as in (E). Path C. 2 spots – FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 (Isle of Man 2023), two players who finish 1st and 2nd. If any of these players already qualified for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 or the FIDE World Championship Match 2024 at the moment of the beginning of Grand Swiss via another qualification path, the qualification spot(s) shall be awarded to the highest-placed player(s) in the final standings who have not yet qualified to the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 at the moment of the beginning of Grand Swiss. Path D. 1 spot – High-Level International Tournaments (HIT), the player with the best results during one year (2023) in FIDE rated tournaments satisfying the below criteria who has not already qualified from Path A, B or C. The winner becomes a qualifier before determining a qualifier by rating as in (E). Path E. 1 spot – The highest-rated player by standard rating in the January 2024 rating list provided that the player has played at least four standard eligible tournaments according to the criteria in Article 1.1 below, who has not already qualified from Path A, B, C or D. Reserves If reserves are needed due to a withdrawal from the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024, their spot is allocated to a player who has not already qualified, in the following way: – In Paths B and C, the next highest-finisher in the final tournament standings, but not beyond 4th place. If this fails to replace a player, then the spot(s) are allocated using the process in Path E. – In Paths A, D and E, using the process in Path E. Qualification Path D: 1. Eligible Tournaments 1.1 Eligible over-the-board tournaments are FIDE-rated individual standardplay tournaments which meet the following criteria: a. Finish in the 2023 calendar year b. At least 8 players c. At least 7 rounds d. The 8 highest-rated players have an average standard rating of 2550 at the start of the tournament (TAR) e. The Chief Arbiter is an International Arbiter f. Recommended FPL Fair Play procedures are applied (see Annex 1) g. Players represent at least 3 national federations h. Not more than 50% of either the 20 highest-rated players, or not more than 50% of all players if there are fewer than 20 players, shall represent one federation. For National Championships, criteria 1.1g and 1.1h are waived. * * * * * FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE ORGANIZERS OF WORLD TOP EVENTS: If your tournament is eligible for the FIDE Circuit according to the criteria described in Art.1 Eligible Tournaments of the Qualification path D, please inform us using this form: CLICK HERE * * * * * 1.2 Other eligible over-the-board FIDE-rated individual tournaments are: a. World Rapid Championship b. World Blitz Championship c. Continental Rapid Championship d. Continental Blitz Championship e. Other Rapid & Blitz tournaments that meet the criteria of 1.1, except that the 8 highest-rated players have an average standard rating of 2700 at the start of the tournament (TAR) For National Championships eligible under 1.2e, criteria 1.1g and 1.1h are waived. 2. Points System per Tournament 2.1 Basic Points are awarded to players in one of the first 8 places in a tournament, provided that the player is in the top half of the final tournament ranking. 1st place 10 points 2nd place 8 points 3rd place 7 points 4th place 6 points 5th place 5 points 6th place 4 points 7th place 3 points 8th place 2 points 2.2 A player will only count for any calculation in Articles 1 and 2 of these rules if they played, or won by forfeit, in at least 50% of the total number of games in the tournament. 2.3 The number of basic points that tied players score shall be calculated as 50% of basic points for their final ranking determined by the tournament’s tie-break rules, plus 50% of the sum of basic points assigned for the tied places divided by the number of tied players. This also applies to players who tied for one of the first 8 places but appear below 8th place in the final ranking according to the tournament’s rules. 2.4 The event score for each player is determined by the number of basic points (see Articles 2.1 and 2.3) multiplied by a tournament strength factor calculated as follows: k=(TAR-2500)/100. 2.5 Losing Quarter Finalists in the World Cup shall be deemed to have