tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44926363447174317222024-03-17T11:26:11.770+01:00World Chess Championship BlogNews, views, and feedback on my World Chess Championship web site (see links). Any comment about the World Chess Championship is welcome on any post.Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.comBlogger814125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-5464421825222858122024-03-13T17:23:00.001+01:002024-03-17T11:25:12.610+01:00Toronto Candidates - WomenIn last week's post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/03/toronto-candidates-kickoff.html">Toronto Candidates - Kickoff</A>
(March 2024), I created a crosstable to determine the historical record of all eight participants playing each other. I ended the post saying,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Apologies for not creating a similar table for the Women's Candidates Tournament, which takes place at the same time in Toronto. I ran out of time for the table, but will make up for it when I can.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Since I was also interested in the results, I decided to give it priority.
The last row is for the Women's World Champion, Ju Wenjun.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<TABLE BORDER CELLPADDING="2">
<TR>
<TD></TD>
<TD>Gor</TD>
<TD>Kon</TD>
<TD>Lag</TD>
<TD>Lei</TD>
<TD>Muz</TD>
<TD>Ram</TD>
<TD>Sal</TD>
<TD>Tan</TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD>Ju</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/4147103">Goryachkina</A></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=49497&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=50277&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=135017&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=54881&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=151571&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=139633&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=121617&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/5008123">Koneru, Humpy</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=50277&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=135017&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=54881&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=151571&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=139633&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=49497&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/14109336">Lagno</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=50277&player=&pid2=135017&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=50277&player=&pid2=54881&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=50277&player=&pid2=151571&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=50277&player=&pid2=139633&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=50277&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=50277&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8605114">Lei Tingjie</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=135017&player=&pid2=54881&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=135017&player=&pid2=151571&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=135017&player=&pid2=139633&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=135017&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=135017&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/14111330">Muzychuk A.</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54881&player=&pid2=151571&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54881&player=&pid2=139633&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54881&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54881&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/5091756">Rameshbabu</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=151571&player=&pid2=139633&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=151571&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=151571&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2915138">Salimova</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=139633&player=&pid2=51565&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=139633&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8603642">Tan Zhongyi</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=51565&player=&pid2=102346&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8603006">Ju Wenjun</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<P>
As with last week's table, the links under the players' names go to that player's FIDE rating page. The links in the crosstable go to Chessgames.com.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-73841146575435585412024-03-06T17:25:00.013+01:002024-03-17T11:13:25.739+01:00Toronto Candidates - KickoffIt's been nearly two months since I last posted on the two 2024 Candidates tournaments; see
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-race-for-2024-candidates-events.html">The Race for the 2024 Candidates Events</A>
(January 2024).
Since the tournaments are due to start at the beginning of next month, it's time to get serious.
<P>
For the past six Candidates tournaments, I've produced a crosstable of links to Chessgames.com showing the record between each pair of players.
The post for the 2022 tournament was
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/06/madrid-candidates-kickoff.html">Madrid Candidates - Kickoff</A>
(June 2022).
First, here are some relevant links for the 2024 tournament:-
<UL>
<LI>
<B>Official site:</B>
<A HREF="https://candidates2024.fide.com/">candidates2024.fide.com</A>
(fide.com)
<LI>
<A HREF="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/canada/toronto">Current Local Time in Toronto, Ontario, Canada</A>
(timeanddate.com)
</UL>
<P>
In previous kickoff posts, I included a link to my page for the event. I stopped creating my own pages starting with the current cycle, so I'll reference the Wikipedia page instead:-
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidates_Tournament_2024">Candidates Tournament 2024</A>
(wikipedia.org)
</UL>
<P>
The following table includes each players record against the reigning World Champion, Ding Liren.
The players' names link to their corresponding FIDE page.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<TABLE BORDER CELLPADDING="2">
<TR>
<TD></TD>
<TD>Aba</TD>
<TD>Car</TD>
<TD>Fir</TD>
<TD>Guk</TD>
<TD>Nak</TD>
<TD>Nep</TD>
<TD>Pra</TD>
<TD>Vid</TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD>Din</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/13402960">Abasov</A></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=76172&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=152702&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=158070&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=10084&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=54683&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=151629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=110381&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2020009">Caruana</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=152702&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=158070&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=10084&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=54683&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=151629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=76172&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/12573981">Firouzja</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=152702&player=&pid2=158070&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=152702&player=&pid2=10084&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=152702&player=&pid2=54683&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=152702&player=&pid2=151629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=152702&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=152702&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/46616543">Gukesh</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=158070&player=&pid2=10084&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=158070&player=&pid2=54683&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=158070&player=&pid2=151629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=158070&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=158070&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2016192">Nakamura</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=10084&player=&pid2=54683&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=10084&player=&pid2=151629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=10084&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=10084&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/4168119">Nepomniachtchi</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54683&player=&pid2=151629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54683&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=54683&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/25059530">Praggnanandhaa</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=151629&player=&pid2=117302&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=151629&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/5029465">Vidit (*)</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD><A HREF="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=117302&player=&pid2=52629&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=">*</A></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><A HREF="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8603677">Ding Liren</A></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD></TD>
<TD>:</TD>
<TD>xx</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<BR>
(*) Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
<P>
Four of the eight players plus Ding Liren competed in the
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/c1c2$cix.htm">2022 Madrid Candidates Tournament</A>
(m-w.com).
The newcomers are
Abasov,
Gukesh,
Praggnanandhaa, and
Vidit.
<P>
Apologies for not creating a similar table for the Women's Candidates Tournament, which takes place at the same time in Toronto. I ran out of time for the table, but will make up for it when I can.
The links for both the official site and the Wikipedia page lead to info on the Women's event.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-82108140796146810222024-02-28T17:01:00.007+01:002024-02-29T14:05:46.286+01:00C31 Zonals++ More NamesThe previous post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/02/c31-zonals-more-data.html">C31 Zonals++ More Data</A>
(February 2024), was about data missing from the page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/2022-23q.htm">(C31) Zonal Qualifiers 2022-2023</A>
(m-w.com). At the end of the post I noted,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It looks like I'll need another post on this subject to incorporate the Wikipedia data into the other data. I'll come back to this another time.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The resulting update added nearly 100 names.
For more notes related to the qualifying players, see
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Chess_World_Cup_2023">Talk: Chess World Cup 2023</A>
(wikipedia.org). Kudos to the Wikipedians who did a nice job documenting the World Cup on the main article.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-8646273319767203242024-02-21T17:16:00.001+01:002024-02-24T15:17:56.286+01:00C31 Zonals++ More DataIn the previous post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/02/c31-zonal-qualification-paths.html">C31 Zonal Qualification Paths</A>
(February 2024), I wrote,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
There are many names missing on the new page. I'll come back later and try to fill in the blanks.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
That 'new page' is
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/2022-23q.htm">(C31) Zonal Qualifiers 2022-2023</A>
(m-w.com).
I created a database and loaded two sources for data into it:-
<UL>
<LI>
Players who were listed in FIDE's document 'FIDE World Cup 2023: Preliminary lists of eligible players announced' (125 players); see
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/11/c31-regulations-for-world-cup-qualifiers.html">C31 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</A>
(November 2023), for a link to the document.
<LI>
Players who participated at 'FIDE World Cup 2023' (Baku; 206 players).
</UL>
<P>
I determined that of the 125 players in the 'Preliminary lists of eligible players', 11 did not play at Baku. Of the 206 players who played at Baku, 89 were not in the preliminary list. That made 100 names to investigate, which is too many. I turned to the Wikipedia page,
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_World_Cup_2023">Chess World Cup 2023</A>,
for help.
<P>
The Wikipedia page lists all 206 players who participated in Baku, along with their qualification paths. When I compared FIDE's list of players to Wikipedia's list, I had 35 mismatches. Most of these were due to the usual difficulties with comparing names
-- letters specific to a language, Asian names, Spanish names --
along with one real difference in spelling:
Aleksandar Indic / Indjic of Serbia. After correcting those mismatches, the lists matched almost perfectly.
<P>
From the Wikipedia data, I derived a few counts, summarized in the following chart.
The left column shows federations that had more than three players at Baku, out of a total of 86 different federations with at least one player.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-ob21.gif" WIDTH=315 HEIGHT=370>
<P>
The right column shows the counts of players who qualified via a zonal. The middle column shows the counts of players who qualified via a route other than a zonal.
Most of the non-zonal codes are easily understood; 'WC' means the 2021 World Cup at Sochi.
<P>
It looks like I'll need another post on this subject to incorporate the Wikipedia data into the other data. I'll come back to this another time.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-59521855270789325102024-02-14T17:44:00.002+01:002024-02-15T12:47:03.909+01:00C31 Zonal Qualification PathsContinuing with zonals++ for the current cycle, after...
<UL>
<LI>
2023-12-27:-
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/12/c31-zonal-clippings.html">C31 Zonal Clippings</A>,
and
<LI>
2024-01-03:-
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/01/c31-more-zonal-clippings.html">C31 More Zonal Clippings</A>
</UL>
<P>
...there remains...
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Still to do:</B> Create a 'C31 Qualifiers' page and add it the appropriate pages.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
...The new page is
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/2022-23q.htm">(C31) Zonal Qualifiers 2022-2023</A>
(m-w.com).
FIDE's official announcement for the qualifying players appears to have been made prematurely, so there are many names missing on the new page. I'll come back later and try to fill in the blanks.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-15625285778069639932024-02-07T17:41:00.002+01:002024-02-09T11:44:11.754+01:001998 Zonals 2.x ReferencesIn the previous post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/01/1998-zonals-2x.html">1998 Zonals 2.x</A>
(January 2024), I discussed several updates related to the 1998-99 zonal cycle (C18) and that concerned the American continent.
For this post, I added the corresponding references to two of those zonal events:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
2.0 San Felipe 1998-10 (A)<BR>
2.1 Denver 1998-10 (B)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Both events now have additional info on the page covering the events for that cycle:
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1998-99.htm">(C18) Zonals 1998-1999</A>
(m-w.com).
Here are a couple of notes for the two events:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(A)
This was a new event that I had previously overlooked while developing the index page for
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/wcc-zonl.htm">The World Chess Championship Zonals</A>.
<BR>
(B)
I added a link to the post for '1998 Zonals 2.x'. The focus of the post concerned the playoffs for the preliminary ('group') stage of the event, a U.S. championship.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
There might be even more to the story. I had overlooked the '2.0 San Felipe' event partly because the winner of that event, Alexander Ivanov, was listed by FIDE as qualifying through one of the 'Nominees by Continental President'. In a feature article for the April 1999 issue of <I>Chess Life</I>, GM Ivanov wrote,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I was
happy to hear the news from the last
FIDE Congress in Elista (Kalmykia), held
during the last Chess Olympiad, that a
tournament called the Pan American
Championship, to be held in San Felipe,
Venezuela from October 25 through
November 5, 1998, would be a qualifying
event for the coming FIDE World
Championship in Las Vegas.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
According to my page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1998-99q.htm">(C18) Zonal Qualifiers 1998-1999</A>
(m-w.com), there were four nominees in the same category as Ivanov:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Nominees by Continental President<BR>
15. Africa: H. HAMDOUCHI (MAR)<BR>
16. America: A. IVANOV (USA)<BR>
17. Asia: AL-MODIAHKI (QAT)<BR>
18. Europe: L. ARONIAN (ARM)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Did any of the other three nominees qualify via a competition? My preliminary investigation said, 'No', but I am not yet convinced. TBD.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-4698677412483491022024-01-31T17:41:00.003+01:002024-02-03T11:47:03.433+01:001998 Zonals 2.xA post from earlier this month,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/01/world-championships-from-50-and-25.html">World Championships from 50 and 25 Years Ago</A>
(January 2024), uncovered a couple of details about the 1998-1999 zonals. The relevant info is in the following clipping which was taken from that post.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-oa31.gif" WIDTH=310 HEIGHT=400>
<P>
All of that together prompted me to comment,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The qualification of GMs Gulko, Ivanov, and Kudrin, is not consistent between the two sources. GM Ivanov's qualification is confirmed in TWIC 209, but the details about the other two GMs need further investigation.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
TWIC 209 reported,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
12) Panam Championship in Venezuela
•
GM Alexander Ivanov took the single qualifying place for Las Vegas scoring
6.5/9 ahead of Alexandre Lesiege on 6.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
As far as I can tell, this was the first Continental Championship to serve as a qualifier for a World Championship.
The same issue of TWIC,
'The Week In Chess 209 - 9th November 1998 by Mark Crowther',
also carried news about that year's U.S. Championship.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
3) US Championships 1998
•
In group A Nick
DeFirmian and Dmitry Gurevich progressed to the knockout stage and
Seirawan, Dzindzichashvili, and Kudrin played off for third place seeing
Kudrin qualified for Las Vegas eliminating Seirawan, possibly one of the
US's best prospects.
•
There was a four way tie in group B and Gulko, Benjamin, Fedorowicz and
Shaked played off seeing first Benjamin qualify after a round robin
involving the players, then Shaked beating Gulko to take the other place.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
TWIC had no crosstables for the playoffs. The February 1998 issue of <I>Chess Life</I> also gave no details. In
<A HREF="https://web.archive.org/web/20000818043510/http://www.uschess.org/news/uschamp98/results.html">GM Nick de Firmian wins the 1998 US Championship!</A>
(archive.org -> uschess.org), USchess.org reported,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Standings: Group A after 7 (Top 2 Advance to Semi-Finals);
de Firmian and Gurevich Advance; Kudrin takes 3rd in play-offs
•
de Firmian and Gurevich qualify for the two Semi-Final spots from this group and do not need to go through the play-offs. Kudrin wins the play-offs to take third in the section and qualify for the WCT ['World Championship Tournament'].
<BR><BR>
Standings: Group B after 7 (Top 2 Advance to Semi-Finals)
Benjamin and Shaked advance to SemiFinals; Gulko takes 3rd.
•
There was a play-off on Sunday between Gulko, Benjamin, Fedorowicz and Shaked to determine both the two who would advance to the Semi-Finals on Monday and the 3rd place who would also qualify for the 1999 FIDE World Championship Tournament event. Benjamin and Shaked advanced to the SemiFinals; Gulko took 3rd.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Since the U.S., aka Zone 2.1, produced six qualifiers with only five qualifying spots, I'm guessing that there was some sort of arrangement among American chess officials to have both Gulko and Kudrin qualify using a spot reserved for the Las Vegas organizers ('Nominee by the Administrator').
<P>
I'll add all of this to the page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1998-99.htm">(C18) Zonals 1998-1999</A>
(m-w.com), under
'2.0 San Felipe (VEN) 1998-10' [new]
and
'2.1 Denver 1998-10'.
I'll also add any further info if I discover it.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-30709154320472937642024-01-24T17:21:00.004+01:002024-01-25T14:28:47.021+01:00More 1970s Fischer Philippines PhotosOne of the topics I covered in
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2024/01/world-championships-from-50-and-25.html">World Championships from 50 and 25 Years Ago</A>
(January 2024) was a famous meeting from more than 50 years ago. In that post I wrote,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Re [1973] Fischer/Marcos, good thing I didn't go any further for that post. I've already dealt with the meeting in posts on both of my blogs [w/ links].
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
While I was researching that post, I discovered a related video
<P>
<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ezO8u69boj0?si=0z2KOcnwMWPenf7V" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><BR>
<B>Bobby Fischer in Philippines (1973)</B> (4:16) • '[Published on] Mar 10, 2017'
<P>
The description of the video is repeated in the video's opening sequence:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
These pictures were from albums given as a gift from President Marcos to Bobby Fischer to commemorate his visit to the Philippines in 1973. These albums were in storage in Pasadena that was abandoned by Fischer when he fled the U.S. These albums ended up in a local flea market.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The video adds,
<CENTER>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Presented by<BR>
His Excellency<BR>
The President<BR>
of the<BR>
Republic of the Philippines<BR>
Ferdinand E. Marcos<BR>
and the First Lady<BR>
Imelda Romualdez Marcos
</BLOCKQUOTE>
</CENTER>
<P>
The Fischer/Marcos photo appearing in the '50 and 25 Years Ago' post is not included in the video, but there is a photo showing the table around 1:05 into the video. I'm guessing that
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florencio_Campomanes">Florencio Campomanes</A>
(wikipedia.org; 1927 – 2010), is the fellow between Fischer and Marcos (striped shirt?) starting at around 2:05.
<P>
For more about the 'storage in Pasadena', see
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2022/05/fischers-storage-locker-and-ebay.html">Fischer's Storage Locker and eBay</A>
(May 2022).
For more photos, this time in color, see
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUb7IdFIE4c">Bobby Fischer in Philippines, Tokyo & Hong Kong - 1973/74</A>
(youtube.com), on the same Youtube channel.
<P>
In the previous post featuring a Youtube video,
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2024/01/man-city-and-magnus.html">Man City and Magnus</A>
(January 2024), I mentioned that
'While I was preparing the post on my local PC, I received the message: "Video unavailable : Watch on YouTube"'. The same thing happened this time. Has Youtube changed its policy on local use of its videos?
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-43556493325401256832024-01-17T17:31:00.005+01:002024-03-10T11:38:35.387+01:00The Race for the 2024 Candidates EventsThe new year saw a flurry of activity related to the next stage of the current cycle (all links are fide.com):-
<UL>
<LI>
2023-12-18:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2807">FIDE statement on rating specific tournaments</A>
•
'Concerns have arisen regarding the [Chartres, France] tournament's potential purpose -- whether it was orchestrated to aid Mr Firouzja in boosting his rating for potential qualification into the Candidates Tournament 2024'
<LI>
2024-01-01:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2828">FIDE January 2024 rating list: Firouzja and Koneru qualify for Candidates</A>
<LI>
2024-01-13:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2839">Magnus Carlsen withdraws from Candidates 2024, the spot goes to Nijat Abasov</A>
<LI>
2024-01-15:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2843">FIDE publishes regulations for 2024 Candidates Tournaments</A>
</UL>
<P>
That last link includes full lists of the players who qualified for the two Candidates events and how they qualified:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Candidates (*)</B>:-<BR>
Ian Nepomniachtchi, 2023 Match Runner-up<BR>
R Praggnanandhaa, 2023 World Cup 2nd<BR>
Fabiano Caruana, 2023 World Cup 3rd<BR>
Nijat Abasov, 2023 World Cup 4th<BR>
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, 2023 Grand Swiss winner<BR>
Hikaru Nakamura, 2023 Grand Swiss 2nd<BR>
Alireza Firouzja, Best by Rating<BR>
Gukesh D, 2023 FIDE Circuit Winner
<BR><BR>
(*) Magnus Carlsen, who qualified for the Candidates by winning the 2023 World Cup, earlier informed FIDE that he will not be taking part in the event. As per FIDE Candidates qualification paths, Nijat Abasov, who finished 4th in the World Cup, took his place.
<BR><BR>
<B>Women's Candidates</B>:-<BR>
Lei Tingjie, 2023 Match Runner-up<BR>
Kateryna Lagno, 2022-23 WGP 1st<BR>
Aleksandra Goryachkina, 2022-23 WGP 2nd<BR>
Nurgyul Salimova, 2023 World Cup 2nd<BR>
Anna Muzychuk, 2023 World Cup 3rd<BR>
Vaishali Rameshbabu, 2023 Grand Swiss 1st<BR>
Tan Zhongyi, 2023 Grand Swiss 2nd<BR>
Humpy Koneru, Best by Rating (World Cup spot replacement)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Also worth noting is an official page on a new feature of the current cycle:-
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="https://wcc.fide.com/fide_circuit.phtml">FIDE Circuit 2023</A>
(wcc.fide.com)
•
'FIDE Circuit is the new path to qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024.'
</UL>
<P>
Since the FIDE announcements are 'Just the facts, Ma'am', reports from the chess news sites add substantial background and color.
<UL>
<LI>
2023-10-25:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/race-for-candidates-october-2023">Race for the Candidates: Four places still up for grabs</A>
(chessbase.com; Carlos Alberto Colodro)
<LI>
2023-11-30:
<A HREF="https://saintlouischessclub.org/blog/kasparov-can%E2%80%99t-follow-fide-mathematics-r9-sinquefieldcup">Kasparov: Can’t Follow the FIDE Mathematics</A>
(saintlouischessclub.org; video)
<LI>
2023-11-30:
<A HREF="https://saintlouischessclub.org/blog/dominguez-after-fide%E2%80%99s-changes-i-will-fight-candidates-r9-sinquefieldcup">Dominguez: After FIDE’s Changes, I Will Fight for the Candidates</A>
(saintlouischessclub.org; video)
<LI>
2023-12-05:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/us-chess-candidate-tournament-qualification-letter-to-fide">US Chess: Candidate Tournament Qualification Letter to FIDE</A>
(chessbase.com)
<LI>
2023-12-06:
<A HREF="https://www.chess.com/news/view/new-fide-clarifications-on-candidates-draws-reactions">FIDE Clarification On Candidates Race Draws Reactions</A>
(chess.com; TarjeiJS)
<LI>
2023-12-19:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-statement-on-rating-specific-tournaments">FIDE statement on rating specific tournaments</A>
(chessbase.com)
<LI>
2023-12-25:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/caruana-wins-fide-circuit-2023">Caruana wins FIDE Circuit, second spot to be decided in Samarkand</A>
(chessbase.com)
<LI>
2023-12-27:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/firouzja-rouen-candidates">Firouzja playing in Rouen, FIDE changes tournament registration procedure</A>
(chessbase.com; Carlos Alberto Colodro)
<LI>
2023-12-29:
<A HREF="https://www.chess.com/news/view/firouzja-wesley-so-candidates-rouen">Firouzja Overtakes Wesley So To Grab Candidates Rating Spot</A>
(chess.com; Colin_McGourty)
<LI>
2024-01-01:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/gukesh-firouzja-humpy-reach-candidates-2024">Gukesh, Firouzja and Humpy make it to the Candidates</A>
(chessbase.com; Carlos Alberto Colodro)
<LI>
2024-01-03:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-participants-of-the-candidates">The participants of the Candidates</A>
(chessbase.com; André Schulz)
<LI>
2024-01-04:
<A HREF="https://en.chessbase.com/post/it-s-official-carlsen-will-not-play-in-the-candidates">It's official: Carlsen will not play in the Candidates</A>
(chessbase.com; André Schulz)
•
'Carlsen has now announced on his X account'
<LI>
2024-01-15:
<A HREF="https://www.chess.com/news/view/magnus-carlsen-confirms-yet-again-he-will-decline-candidates">Carlsen Confirms He Will Formally Decline Candidates Invitation</A>
(chess.com; TarjeiJS)
•
'GM Magnus Carlsen was included in FIDE's full lineup for the Candidates tournament this week, but in an exclusive interview with Chess.com the former world champion says that he is formally turning down the invitation to play in Toronto.'
</UL>
<P>
For both Candidates tournaments, the FIDE calendar says,
'Toronto, Canada
•
03 Apr 2024
•
25 Apr 2024'.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-37385233139191236682024-01-10T17:36:00.009+01:002024-01-15T11:44:40.419+01:00World Championships from 50 and 25 Years AgoLast week on my main blog, I encountered a few World Championship topics that needed more time than I had. In the post
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2024/01/january-1974-1999-on-cover.html">January 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'</A>
(January 2024), I commented,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
That mention of Fischer and Marcos deserves further exploration, but I'm worried it might lead me down a rabbit hole from which I won't return in time to finish this current post. Maybe later...
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
That comment referred to January 1974, while a second comment in the same post referred to January 1999:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The cover introduction continued with news about two World Championships.
[...]
Once again, that news 'deserves further exploration'.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The post quoted '<I>Chess Life & Review</I> (50 Years Ago)':-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The great Philippines International Tournament, the most important chess event ever held in Asia and the Pacific area, ended November 6. The significance of the event was highlighted by the ceremonial presence of World Champion Bobby Fischer and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Re Fischer/Marcos, good thing I didn't go any further for that post. I've already dealt with the meeting in posts on both of my blogs:-
<UL>
<LI>
2012-09-19:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-philippine-connection.html">The Philippine Connection</A>
•
(WCCB)
'1973 Manila: Fischer visits tournament; meets Marcos, Campomanes'
<LI>
2014-07-03:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2014/07/treated-like-world-champion.html">Treated Like a World Champion</A>
•
(CFAA)
'I [found] a 1973 Fischer photo that doesn't yet seem to have been made available on the web'
</UL>
<P>
Here is that Fischer photo again.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/cfaa/cfa-eg03.jpg" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=320>
<P>
Re the 1999 'news about two World Championships', the first concerned the
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/9899$wix.htm">FIDE Knockout Matches; Las Vegas, VII-VIII, 1999</A>
(m-w.com). The post quoted '<I>Chess Life</I> (25 Years Ago)':-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
De Firmian, Benjamin, and the other semi-finalists, Dmitry Gurevich and Tal Shaked, qualified to participate in the FIDE World Championship, along with Boris Gulko and Sergey Kudrin, both of whom qualified by previous performance or rating; and Alexander Ivanov, who qualified by winning the 1998 Pan American Championship, which was held in Venezuela in October. Gata Kamsky has also been invited (by rating).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
My page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1998-99q.htm">Zonal Qualifiers 1998-1999 (C18)</A>
(m-w.com) has info on all eight players:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Zone 2.1<BR>
55. J. BENJAMIN (USA)<BR>
56. N. de FIRMAN (USA)<BR>
57. D. GUREVICH (USA)<BR>
58. T. SHAKED (USA)<BR>
59. B. GULKO (USA)<BR>
<BR>
Nominee by the Administrator<BR>
14. S. KUDRIN (USA)<BR>
<BR>
Nominees by Continental President<BR>
16. America: A. IVANOV (USA)<BR>
<BR>
Qualified by ELO (average January-July 1998)<BR>
85. G. KAMSKY (USA) (2720)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The qualification of GMs
Gulko,
Ivanov, and
Kudrin,
is not consistent between the two sources.
GM Ivanov's qualification is confirmed in TWIC 209, but the details about the other two GMs need further investigation.
<P>
Re the 1999 news about the second World Championship, the January 1999 CL said,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Alisa Galliamova-Ivanchuk forfeited her match with Jun Xie. China was awarded the bid for the match; Alisa wanted to play at least half of the match in Russia, so she didn't show up at all. Jun Xie, the former women's world champion, will now challenge the current champion, Susan Polgar.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The reference is to an unprecedented sequence of matches for the 1995-99 cycle outlined on the
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-womn.htm">World Chess Championship for Women</A>
(m-w.com).
The Candidates final match is listed there as
'Xie Jun - Galliamova (forfeit)';
the subsequent World Championship match is listed first as
'Xie Jun - Z.Polgar (forfeit)';
and then as
'Xie Jun - Galliamova'.
I've already posted twice about these matches:-
<UL>
<LI>
2017-02-08:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2017/02/1995-1999-womens-cycle.html">1995-1999 Women's Cycle</A>
<LI>
2017-02-15:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-last-standard-womens-cycle.html">The Last Standard Women's Cycle</A>
</UL>
<P>
There is nothing more to add here.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-42715033898927908962024-01-03T17:41:00.005+01:002024-01-06T12:44:13.689+01:00C31 More Zonal ClippingsIn the previous post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/12/c31-zonal-clippings.html">C31 Zonal Clippings</A>
(December 2023), I created the incomplete page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/2022-23.htm">Zonals 2022-2023 (C31)</A>
with about half of its required clippings. I also noted,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'll add the other half of the events for the next post on this blog.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
I did this and then added a link for the 'C31 Zonals' to two index pages:
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-indx.htm">World Chess Championship</A>
and
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/wcc-zonl.htm">World Chess Championship Zonals</A>.
The 'Still to do' at the end of the previous post remains 'Still to do'.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-60343634301270012132023-12-27T17:38:00.003+01:002023-12-28T12:42:35.553+01:00C31 Zonal ClippingsFollowing last week's post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/12/c31-zonals-indexed.html">C31 Zonals Indexed</A>
(December 2023), I created a new page titled,
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/2022-23.htm">World Chess Championship : (C31) Zonals 2022-2023</A>
(m-w.com). The code 'C31' follows my convention for numbering the World Championship cycles.
<P>
I then added clippings for about half of the C31 events already listed on the index page,
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/wcc-zonl.htm">The World Chess Championship Zonals</A>
(also m-w.com). I'll add the other half of the events for the next post on this blog.
<P>
For the equivalent post in the previous cycle, see
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/01/c30-zonal-clippings.html">C30 Zonal Clippings</A>
(January 2022).
Documenting that cycle also required two posts.
<P>
<B>Still to do:</B>
Create a 'C31 Qualifiers' page and add it the appropriate pages.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-10831260614603125862023-12-20T17:32:00.021+01:002023-12-23T15:39:31.078+01:00C31 Zonals IndexedA few weeks ago, in
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/11/c31-zonals.html">C31 Zonals</A>
(November 2023), I identified zonals++ for the current cycle, and wrote,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The table above is enough to proceed with populating the 22 events on the [zonals] index page.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The address of that index page is
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/wcc-zonl.htm">The World Chess Championship Zonals</A>.
For the equivalent post on the previous cycle,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/01/c30-zonals-indexed.html">C30 Zonals Indexed</A>
(January 2022), I developed some statistics about the zonals for the cycle compared to previous cycles. For this post, I'll have to settle for displaying the section of the index page relevant to C31.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-nl20.gif" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=365>
<P>
The last six columns are internal controls used to maintain the consistency of the database.Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-43770834849288569632023-12-13T17:14:00.018+01:002023-12-14T16:23:36.130+01:00Rogues' GalleryOn my main blog I've been experimenting with <I>AI Comic</I> software. The most recent post in the series,
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/12/fischer-vs-carlsen.html">Fischer vs. Carlsen</A>
(December 2023), explained,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
For this post, I used the tool to see how well it drew World Champions, both past and present.
[...]
The AI likenesses were generally acceptable, although sometimes barely. I'll look at that in another post, maybe on my World Championship blog.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The following composite image is assembled from 18 times '[Name] plays chess', where '[Name]' is one of the World Champions. Each execution of the command created a 'comic' page with four panels and I picked the best panel to include with the composite.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-nl13.jpg" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=240><BR>
<A HREF="https://aicomicfactory.com/">AI Comic Factory</A>
<P>
The likenesses are in chronological order and start with Paul Morphy in the upper left corner. He is followed by Wilhelm Steinitz, after whom they run left to right, top to bottom through Ding Liren in the bottom right corner.
<P>
Most of the likenesses resemble their real life champions. The worst match is probably Max Euwe in the upper right corner, which doesn't resemble the Dutchman at all.
The first five Soviet Champions, who all appear on the second row before Fischer, are only so-so. Petrosian in the yellow jacket and Spassky to his right are barely recognizable.
<P>
The best likenesses are the six most recent champions on the last row. Karpov and Kasparov look much older than when they were in their prime.
Kramnik, next to them, deserves a better likeness, but I ran out of time. [NB: Where's Topalov?]
<P>
If I find the time, I'll try to do better for Euwe, Petrosian, Spassky, and Kramnik. It might also be interesting to try the same exercise with Women World Champions.Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-91925355488828750632023-12-06T17:40:00.008+01:002023-12-08T12:45:24.952+01:00World Championship eBay AuctionsIn a recent post on my main blog,
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/12/fischer-spassky-top-items-by-price.html">Fischer - Spassky Top Items by Price</A>
(December 2023), I wrote,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So many years of following
<B>Top eBay Chess Items by Price</B> (March 2010)
[...]
My short list for this post had a dozen items, any one of which could have been featured for the post. By coincidence, the three most expensive items on the list were all related to the 1972 Fischer - Spassky match.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
That started me wondering how many earlier eBay posts featured an auction related to the World Championship.
There's no easy way to count these using the search available on this public-facing blog, but the private site to create blog posts, Google's Blogger.com, allows for search on multiple tags/labels, e.g. 'eBay and WCC'.
I found 49 posts with those tags, including 'Fischer - Spassky Top Items'.
<P>
I loaded the control info about the 49 posts into a database and sorted on number of views by descending order. Following are the top five posts ranked by apparent popularity. I say 'apparent', because the number of views depends on factors external to the post. The oldest posts, for example, appeared before blog statistics were introduced on Blogger.com. During the period 2012-2018, posts were affiliated by <I>Chess Club Live</I> (CCL), which greatly boosted their viewing stats. Here's the list of no.1-5:-
<UL>
<LI>
2013-03-03:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2013/03/1972-fischer-spassky-poster.html">1972 Fischer - Spassky Poster</A>
<LI>
2013-11-24:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2013/11/carlsen-anand-signed-board.html">Carlsen - Anand, Signed Board</A>
•
'The Carlsen - Anand World Championship match ended just two days ago, so I [...] looked for Carlsen - Anand items.'
<LI>
2016-02-23:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-real-bobby-fischer.html">The Real Bobby Fischer?</A>
•
'While I was studying the [Darrach] book I was reminded of the many press photos that appeared in the news before, during, and after the 1972 match. I gathered as many of these as I could find and started to sort them. I found close to 100, of which 30 are shown in the following composite photo.'
<LI>
2008-02-05:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2008/02/halldor-petursson-cartoons.html">Halldor Petursson Cartoons</A>
<LI>
2016-07-12:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2016/07/chess-champion-trading-cards.html">Chess Champion Trading Cards</A>
•
'Svijet Sporta card[s] from Yugoslavia in 1980-1981. 'Svijet Sporta' translates to 'Sports World' in English.'
</UL>
<P>
Three of those five posts were related to the 1972 Fischer - Spassky match. Among the posts ranked no.6-10, two were related to the same match. I suppose this all stems from Fischer's mystique, especially among Americans.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-30505330504899586282023-11-29T17:11:00.004+01:002023-12-23T12:17:44.556+01:00C31 ZonalsContinuing with qualifying events for the
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/08/2023-world-cup-baku-azerbaijan.html">2023 World Cup, Baku</A>
(August 2023), after identifying the events in
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/11/c31-regulations-for-world-cup-qualifiers.html">C31 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</A>
(November 2023), I ended saying,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<B>Next step:</B> Add the 22 events on the right to the index page, World Chess Championship Zonals.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
That index page needs a date and a venue for each event. Of the 22 events identified on the 'C31 Regulations' post, I found 21 reported in Mark Crowther's 'The Week in Chess' (TWIC). They are listed in the table below, which follows the format established for the previous cycle in the post
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/01/c30-zonals.html">C30 Zonals</A>
(January 2022).
The missing C31 event is discussed in a note to the table.
<P>
<B>1.0:</B> TWIC 1400 (2021)<BR>
<B>1.0:</B> TWIC 1431 (2022)<BR>
<B>1.0:</B> TWIC 1480 (2023)<BR>
<B>1.10:</B> TWIC 1456<BR>
<BR>
<B>2.0:</B> TWIC 1436 (2022)<BR>
<B>2.0:</B> TWIC 1490 (2023)<BR>
<B>2.1:</B> TWIC 1459<BR>
<B>2.2:</B> TWIC 1433<BR>
<B>2.3:</B> TWIC 1429<BR>
<B>2.4:</B> TWIC 1460<BR>
<B>2.5:</B> TWIC 1479<BR>
<BR>
<B>3.0:</B> TWIC 1461 (2022)<BR>
<B>3.0:</B> TWIC 1492 (2023)<BR>
<B>3.1:</B> TWIC 1491<BR>
<B>3.2:</B> TWIC 1488<BR>
<B>3.3:</B> TWIC 1488<BR>
<B>3.4:</B> TWIC 1491<BR>
<B>3.5:</B> TWIC 1484<BR>
<B>3.6:</B> TWIC 1473<BR>
<B>3.7:</B> TWIC 1470<BR>
<BR>
<B>4.0:</B> [A] (2022)<BR>
<B>4.0:</B> TWIC 1489 (2023)
<P>
[A]<BR>
There are other issues here. The event was identified in the previous post as 'Continental Chp [Africa 2022] (3)'. The number in parentheses is the number of players qualifying from the event. FIDE said three players qualified, but their list of players had four names. Was there a playoff? No, it turns out that the list of players was wrong.
Another FIDE page
<A HREF="https://worldchampionshipcycle.fide.com/bassem-amin-and-shahenda-wafa-claim-titles/">2022 African Chess Championship: Bassem Amin and Shahenda Wafa claim titles</A>
(worldchampionshipcycle.fide.com; September 2022), says that
<BLOCKQUOTE>
3. GM Hesham Abdelrahman
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
was the third qualifier. The list of all players said that
<BLOCKQUOTE>
3. Hesham<BR>
4. Abdelrahman (EGY)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
were the third and fourth qualifiers. The error is easily understood and corrected. The table above is enough to proceed with populating the 22 events on the index page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/wcc-zonl.htm">World Chess Championship Zonals</A>.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-29230179152779369712023-11-22T17:57:00.016+01:002023-11-26T11:05:35.216+01:00C31 Regulations for World Cup QualifiersIn
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/09/small-projects-checkpoint.html">Small Projects Checkpoint</A>
(September 2023), I wrote,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
One topic demands attention -- documenting the qualification paths for the most recent World Cup, <I>2023 World Cup, Baku (August 2023)</I>. It's a time consuming procedure that involves pulling together various sources of information. Here's what I produced for the previous cycle (C30 in my system of numbering the World Championship cycles):-<BR>
* 2021-10-27: <I>C30 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</I><BR>
* [...]
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Those links in italics are repeated here for easier reference. Since this isn't the first time I've performed the exercise, I've added links to 'Regulations' posts for previous cycles:-
<UL>
<LI>
2023-08-30:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/08/2023-world-cup-baku-azerbaijan.html">2023 World Cup, Baku (Azerbaijan)</A>
<LI>
2021-10-27:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2021/10/c30-regulations-for-world-cup-qualifiers.html">C30 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</A>
<BR><BR>
<LI>
2019-09-18:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2019/09/c29-regulations-for-world-cup-qualifiers.html">C29 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</A>
<LI>
2017-09-13:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2017/09/c28-regulations-for-world-cup-qualifiers.html">C28 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</A>
</UL>
<P>
For C31, the current cycle, FIDE published a preliminary list of qualifiers:-
<UL>
<LI>
2023-05-29:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2430">FIDE World Cup 2023: Preliminary lists of eligible players announced</A>
(fide.com)
</UL>
<P>
That document leads to a PDF,
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/docs/regulations/World_Cup_2023_Qualified_Players.pdf">Qualified players for the World Cup 2023</A>
(fide.com).
I downloaded the PDF, extracted the various lists, reformatted them for use in a database, and produced the following composite image. It shows the various qualification paths for the 2023 World Cup.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-nk22.gif" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=290>
<P>
The chart on the left counts players who qualified by various routes other than a World Cup qualification tournament. The numbers in parentheses,
e.g. 'FIDE President's nominee (4)', are copied directly from FIDE's document. The number in the 'Ct' column are my own counts.
The chart on the right counts players who qualified via a tournament played in the current World Championship cycle.
<P>
<B>Next step:</B>
Add the 22 events on the right to the index page,
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/wcc-zonl.htm">World Chess Championship Zonals</A>.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-75411414686784765762023-11-15T17:58:00.003+01:002023-11-17T11:03:05.006+01:00Why 1993 Karpov - Timman?In
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/10/small-projects-on-cover.html">Small Projects 'On the Cover'</A>
(October 2023), I flagged,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
2023-04-18:
'news of Kasparov's non-FIDE World Championship title; see also the letter from Karpov'
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
In this post I'll tackle the letter from Karpov. It shines a light on one of the most obscure matches in World Championship history. For the original post, see
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-1973-1998-on-cover.html">April 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
(April 2023).
For the circumstances surrounding the match, see
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-$pca.htm">FIDE/PCA Chronology</A>
(m-w.com).
For the match itself, see
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/9193fwix.htm">1993 Karpov - Timman FIDE Title Match</A>
(ditto). Following is the full text of Karpov's letter.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
During my recent participation in the
1998 U.S. Amateur Team East Championship in Parsippany, NJ, I had time to read
several American Chess magazines. In
the January 1998 issue of Chess Life
I came across an article about the history
of the World Chess Championships. I
don't wish to discuss the biased nature
of the article, or the factual inaccuracies,
which should be presented as the
author's personal views. Instead the
actual title portrays this as a historical
account of the history of the World
Championships. Even in this case, just to
have a valid opinion you must know the
facts. Therefore I would take a moment
to correct the most serious mistake in
the author's interpretation of modern
chess history.
<BR><BR>
It was written that when Kasparov and
Short left FIDE -- "Surprisingly FIDE
ignored another player, Artur Yusupov,
who lost in the same round as Karpov,
but was not even given a chance." (Jan.
issue, page 43, column 1, paragraph 2).
This FIDE action had nothing to do with
Karpov and favoritism as alleged in the
article. Nobody expected that Kasparov
and Short would not play under the auspices of FIDE. However, in any serious
organization, you must be prepared for
all contingencies.
<BR><BR>
As it happened, FIDE
had regulations pertaining to exactly
what did transpire. "In case the Challenger can not play with the World
Champion, he will be replaced by another Finalist." That player was Timman, at
that moment in chess history. In case
both World Champion and Challenger
could not or refused to play the match,
then FIDE would organize a match for
the World Championship between the
second finalist and the highest rated
player in the World. In the regulations
you do not see any semi-finalist mentioned. For many years and at that
moment in history I was the highest or
top ranked player (considering Kasparov was out) in the world. Therefore
FIDE was simply following the regulations established prior to each cycle and
approved by the FIDE Congress.
<BR><BR>
Best regards,
Anatoly Karpov
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The four-page article in the January 1998 <I>Chess Life</I> was titled 'A Brief History of the World Chess Championship' by Michael Khodarkovsky.
Nowhere in the article was the author's close relationship to Kasparov mentioned.
In
<A HREF="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Khodarkovsky">Michael Khodarkovsky</A>
(wikipedia.org), we learn,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
[Khodarkovsky] was a member of Kasparov's coaching team during the 1995 and 2000 World Championship matches and during the 1996, 1997 matches versus IBM's computer Deep Blue.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
In 1993, many observers of the international chess scene, including me, assumed that Karpov had received favorable treatment from FIDE in being invited to play the match with Timman. It took me 30 years to discover Karpov's side of the story.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-38040886525719271602023-11-08T17:39:00.003+01:002023-11-12T10:46:30.142+01:002023 Grand Swiss, Isle of ManTaking the previous blog post documenting a FIDE World Championship event,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/08/2023-world-cup-baku-azerbaijan.html">2023 World Cup, Baku</A>
(August 2023), as a model, this post for the 2023 Grand Swiss needs the following info:-
<UL>
<LI>Official site and logo
<LI>FIDE news items about the event
</UL>
<P>
The rest can be found on Wikipedia via my main index pages:-
<UL>
<LI>
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-indx.htm">World Chess Championship</A>
(m-w.com)
<LI>
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-womn.htm">World Chess Championship for Women</A>
(ditto)
</UL>
<P>
The 2023 logo is shown here:-
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<B>2023 official site:</B><BR>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/img/c3c4$s01.gif" WIDTH=250 HEIGHT=60><BR>
<A HREF="https://grandswiss.fide.com/">FIDE Grand Swiss 2023</A>
(fide.com)
<P>
Compare that with the 2021 logo for the previous event:-
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<B>2021 official site:</B><BR>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/img/c1c2$s01.gif" WIDTH=250 HEIGHT=55>
<P>
The design on the left changed, although the two designs were inspired by the same motif. The text on the right has dropped the mention of 'Chess.com' as a sponsor. I looked for an explanation of that change, but found nothing. I suppose it was a high-level business decision by one or more of the parties. I copied the following infographic from the 2023-11-05 news item in the list below and added the corresponding web domains.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-nk08.gif" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=100><BR>
<B>
fide.com
•
iomchess.com
•
visitiom.co.uk
•
--
</B>
<P>
As for the Scheinberg family, see the FIDE news item dated 2022-04-19 in the following list.
From FIDE.com:-
<UL>
<LI>
2022-03-18:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/1642">Isle of Man to host FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss 2023</A>
<LI>
2022-04-19:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/1694">FIDE announces long-term cooperation with the Scheinberg family</A>
<LI>
2023-01-07:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2138">FIDE reforms qualifications paths to Candidates Tournament</A>
<LI>
2023-03-20:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2290">FIDE Grand Swiss and WGS offer record prize funds</A>
<LI>
2023-06-14:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2457">Qualified players for FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss</A>
<LI>
2023-07-25:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2543">Grand Swiss and Women's Grand Swiss 2023: preliminary lineups and World Cup passes</A>
•
World Cup passes?:
'It's important to note that the lineups are not yet final. More spots will be filled with wild cards and additional qualifications from the World Cup, set to begin on July 29 in Azerbaijan.'
<LI>
2023-09-29:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2655">The Isle of Man’s Grand Chess Spectacle</A>
<LI>
2023-10-22:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2693">2023 FIDE Grand Swiss brings grand expectations</A>
<LI>
2023-10-24:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2698">FIDE Grand Swiss and FIDE Women's Grand Swiss 2023 kick off in the Isle of Man</A>
<LI>
2023-10-31:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2710">FIDE approves new regulations for Affiliated Members</A>
•
'This development received a warm reception from the Isle of Man, currently hosting the Grand Swiss tournament, which applied to be a member federation of FIDE over 20 years ago, but the application was declined.'
<LI>
2023-11-05:
<A HREF="https://www.fide.com/news/2722">Indian Triumph - Vidit and Vaishali win FIDE Grand Swiss</A>
</UL>
<P>
That last news item doesn't mention who qualified for the 2024 Candidates tournament. Other sources tell us that Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Hikaru Nakamura qualified from the 2023 Grand Swiss, and that Vaishali Rameshbabu and Tan Zhongyi qualified from the 2023 Women's Grand Swiss
For the two index pages mentioned at the top of this post, I added links to Wikipedia pages for the two 2024 Candidates tournaments.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-33912558500173129932023-11-01T17:08:00.001+01:002023-11-06T09:11:04.443+01:00Rules for the 1973 InterzonalsAfter posting
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/10/qualifiers-for-1973-interzonals.html">Qualifiers for the 1973 Interzonals</A>
(October 2023) a few weeks ago, I found another source of info even more detailed than the source for that post.
The January 1973 issue of <I>Chess Life</I> (p.33-34) had an article titled 'FIDE Congress : The Men's World Championship' by Fred Cramer, Vice President of FIDE. It covered all aspects of the cycle, including the following section headers:-
<UL>
<LI>The Cycle Ending at [1972] Reykjavik
<LI>The New Cycle, First Stage : The 1972 Zonals
<LI>The 1973 Interzonals - The Euwe Plan
<LI>The 1973 Interzonals
<LI>The 1974 Candidate's Matches
<LI>The 1975 World Championship Match
<LI>A Championship Match Out of Cycle?
</UL>
<P>
I extracted the two sections covering the 1973 Interzonals and created the following composite image.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/clippngs/73fid-02.gif" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=><BR>
(Can be expanded)
<P>
I then added the image to my page
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1972-75.htm">(C09) Zonals 1972-1975</A>
(m-w.com). The Cramer article presents new details about several aspects of the Interzonals and sometimes contradicts sources that I have previously used. Since Cramer was as close to the original discussions as anyone, his word takes precedence.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-61482359830585547532023-10-25T17:43:00.006+02:002023-10-31T11:50:40.233+01:00Competing World Championships in 1998Continuing with
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/10/small-projects-on-cover.html">Small Projects 'On the Cover'</A>
(October 2023), the next follow-up is small enough that I have time to handle a second project.
Together the two follow-ups provide a snapshot of the World Championship in 1998.
<P>
(1)
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/08/august-1973-1998-on-cover.html">August 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
(August 2023)
•
The two part match report by GM Leonid Shamkovich started in the July 1998 issue of <I>Chess Life</I> and ended in August 1998.
Since I gave the full introduction to the first part of the report in the <I>August 'On the Cover'</I>, I'll repeat only the first paragraph of that intro here:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Two outstanding young grandmasters, [Kramnik and Shirov],
crossed chess swords in the
best of 10 World Chess Council (WCC)
World Championship candidates' match.
The match started May 24 and finished
June 5 in the small Spanish city of
Cazorla, in Andalusia. Alexei Shirov,
who won the match with a score of 5.5-3.5,
will meet Garry Kasparov in October for
the WCC World Championship.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The rest of the report included annotations for all nine games of the match.
GM Shamkovich, after commenting on the ninth game, closed the article saying,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
This game turned out to be a final brilliant ending to a relatively dull duel.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
An inline text box accompanying the article added,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The World Chess Council (WCC) World
Championship Match between defending
champion Garry Kasparov and challenger
Alexei Shirov will begin October 16 in Seville,
Spain. Besides the WCC title, $1.9 million will
be on the line, with $1.235 million to the winner and $665,000 to the loser. We will pass
along more information on the match as it
becomes available.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
All in all, largely because the Kasparov - Shirov match was never played, the 1998 Shirov - Kramnik match must be one of the most neglected high-level matches in chess history.
<P>
(2)
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/07/july-1973-1998-on-cover.html">July 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
(July 2023)
•
The post provided some background and introduced an important historical speech by (then) FIDE World Champion Karpov.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Karpov's presence in Las Vegas [for the National Open] was explained in the story '1998 National Open, Part II: "A Really Big Shew"' by Jerry Hanken. A sidebar to the story, titled 'Karpov Speaks', started [...]
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Karpov's speech covered many topics relevant to the World Championship in the last decades of the 1900s. Following are the sidebar's bullets (in bold text) and its main points. There is much more of historical value behind the '[...]s'.
<UL>
<LI>
<B>Karpov on his trip to America to play in San Antonio:</B>
"I remember 1972, my
second trip to the U.S. (The first was to Puerto Rico for
the Student Team Championship in 1971.) 1972 was a
serious tournament which happened in November.
Fischer and Spassky had played in the summer, and
when I came through New York in November it was not
possible to buy a chess set or book, because all America
was crazy for chess and all books and sets had been
sold.
[...]
<BR><BR>
<LI>
<B>Karpov on meetings with Fischer:</B>
"My first meeting was actually in San Antonio. He was
invited by Bill Church, and was to appear at the last
round. He was, as usual, late. So the organizers didn't
want to start the round. He came and greeted all the
people and grandmasters, and then he disappeared
almost immediately."
[...]
<BR><BR>
<LI>
<B>Karpov [on] later meetings with Fischer:</B>
"Even after '75 we met three times. At the
meeting in Washington in 1977, we were very close to
signing a contract and agreement to play a match. All
the problems were solved. We already had pens in our
hands to sign, and then Fischer said, 'OK, we play. We
agree to everything but one point. The match should be
called ...'
[...]
<BR><BR>
<LI>
<B>Karpov on Kasparov:</B>
Karpov disputed Kasparov's contention
that the Fischer - Spassky
match of 1992 was an amateur level match. He thinks
some of the games were
quite good and could rank
in the top ten games of 1992.
[...]
•
Also:
Kasparov's claim to be World Champion,
Kasparov's claim that Karpov was not a legitimate World Champion, and
a private match with Kasparov.
<BR><BR>
<LI>
<B>Karpov on the last [1997] FIDE Championships:</B>
Anatoly noted the criticism (which
came from some American magazines) of his entering
the matches at the end.
[...]
<BR><BR>
<LI>
<B>Karpov on the future of chess:</B>
'For
[chess] to be in the Olympic Games would be very
good. Chess is not a sport in every country, and you can
get much better support from sponsors and official
organizations [once you are part of the official
Olympics].
[...]
</UL>
<P>
Wouldn't it be enlightening to have the full transcript of the talk? I suppose it is lost to us forever.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-85220955891664590112023-10-18T17:51:00.016+02:002023-10-29T11:03:44.896+01:00Qualifiers for the 1973 InterzonalsContinuing with
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/10/small-projects-on-cover.html">Small Projects 'On the Cover'</A>
(October 2023), the next small project is a follow-up to
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/09/september-1973-1998-on-cover.html">September 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
(September 2023). In those posts I noted,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The bulletin said, [...] Here are the final scores from Petropolis. [...] Bronstein replaced Leonid Stein, who died suddenly a few weeks before the tournament.
•
'Bronstein replaced Stein', doesn't square with related info on my other pages. More research needed
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
By 'related info' I was referring to two pages. The first page was
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1972-75.htm">(C09) Zonals 1972-1975</A>
(m-w.com). There I quoted a correspondent, <B>EK</B>:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I am missing one player. I have Polugaevsky, Smyslov, Keres, Stein, Gligoric, Hort, Portisch and ???. That missing player was then in late-1972/early-1973 replaced by Panno. After Stein passed away in July 1973, he was replaced by 2nd reserve Bronstein. Who was that missing player that was nominated by committee but declined to participate?
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
The second page was
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/1972-75q.htm">(C09) Zonal Qualifiers 1972-1975</A>
(m-w.com). There I quoted another correspondent, <B>GMG</B>:-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The FIDE committee selected the players who did not win a zonal spot. Leonid Stein was selected, but passed away a few weeks before, and was replaced by Oscar Panno. Bronstein, the second reservist, made a special appeal to FIDE president Euwe and was allowed to play.
•
Reshevsky was chosen as third reserve by the FIDE selection committee. He seems to have been been given a place to balance the numbers at Petropolis when FIDE president Euwe gave second reservist Bronstein special dispensation to play.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
It turns out that neither of those correspondents got the story right. The full story starts with the following info, taken from an appendix titled 'How They Qualified' (p.282) in <I>World Championship Interzonals : Leningrad and Petropolis 1973</I> by Wade, Blackstock, and Kotov.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/zonals/clippngs/73fid-01.gif" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=>
<P>
The first point to note is 'two, as nearly equal as possible, 16-players tournaments'. In fact, both events had 18 players; see:-
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/73751iix.htm">1973 Leningrad Interzonal</A> (m-w.com)
<LI><A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/73752iix.htm">1973 Petropolis Interzonal</A> (ditto)
</UL>
<P>
Wade, Blackstock, and Kotov (WBK) say that the 32 Interzonal participants (16 * 2) qualified as follows:-
<P>
*
6 candidates from the previous cycle<BR>
*
8 selected by a FIDE commission<BR>
*
17 zonal qualifiers<BR>
*
1 World Junior Champion
<P>
WBK also say that four other participants qualified by rules added afterward:-
<P>
*
3 additional zonal qualifiers<BR>
*
1 additional World Junior Champion
<P>
What about those eight participants who were 'selected by a FIDE commission'? Like EK (above), WBK listed only seven names.
(This isn't the only omission on the WBK page, but the details are not important for this discussion.)
Six names are the same on both lists, but EK mentions Gligoric as the 7th, while WBK mentions Tal. The six names on both lists plus Gligoric and Tal all played in the two Interzonals.
<P>
In addition to the eight selected participants, WBK listed more players as reserves:
Panno,
Bronstein,
Reshevsky,
Ivkov, and
Mecking.
Other sources say a total of 14 players was nominated by FIDE (apparently 8 + 6), but this doesn't change the narrative.
<P>
Both Panno and Reshevsky qualified from zonals -- as did Ivkov and Mecking -- leaving only Bronstein as a reserve player not qualified otherwise.
How did my two correspondents, who were generally accurate in their other remarks on similar topics, make their mistakes?
<P>
According to WBK, the 13/14 players selected by the FIDE commission were known 'before 31 December 1971'. The zonals were all played in 1972. It appears that most of the players on the FIDE reserve list, wanting to boost their chance of qualifying for the Interzonals, decided to participate in the appropriate Zonal.
Unless a researcher was aware that some players were on two different lists of (potential) qualifiers, he had only half the story.
<P>
It's worth noting that Panno qualified from a zone that was expanded from two to three qualifiers at the 1972 FIDE Congress, Skopje.
Quinteros and Panno finished tied for 2nd/3rd at the zone 8 tournament, held at Sao Paulo in May 1972.
If the number of qualifiers from the zone had stayed fixed at two, Panno would have played a match against Quinteros for the second qualifying place.
I couldn't find any trace of a match between the two players in 1972.
<P>
Getting back to <I>September 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</I>, the simple statement 'Bronstein replaced Stein' was the truth, if not the whole truth. I hope the preceding discussion is closer to the whole truth.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-377442255653818332023-10-11T17:48:00.008+02:002023-10-14T09:54:15.591+02:00GM Shirov in 1998The previous post on this blog,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/10/small-projects-on-cover.html">Small Projects 'On the Cover'</A>
(October 2023), identified a number of World Championship posts on my main blog that need a follow-up.
The first post I'll tackle is the most recent on the list:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/10/october-1973-1998-on-cover.html">October 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
(October 2023). There are three topics worth developing, all involving Alexei Shirov. From the October 1998 cover introduction:-
<UL>
<LI>'The Kasparov - Shirov World Chess Council (WCC) championship match will not take place in 1998, if indeed it takes place at all.'
<LI>'Beginning with next month's issue, Alexei Shirov will author a series of articles for USCF members.'
<LI>'Shirov will also be in the country in time to participate in the FIDE World Championship tournament, which begins November 29 and ends December 27 [1998].'
</UL>
<P>
Re the Kasparov - Shirov match, I have a page,
<A HREF="https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/9899gkix.htm">1998-99 World Chess Council (and more)</A>
that places the match in context. See the section titled, 'The WCC loses its sponsors'.
<P>
Re the Shirov articles, I found five in a column titled 'Shirov's Inferno' which appeared irregularly. The first article was in the November 1998 issue of <I>Chess Life</I> (CL), the last in August 1999. In February and March 1999, Shirov wrote a two part article, 'Consolation Match', that discussed the collapse of the Kasparov match and a replacement match with GM Zybnek Hracek. [NB: The page 9899GKIX should explain the connection between the two matches.] See also
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2022/12/world-championship-columnists.html">World Championship Columnists</A>
(December 2022, main blog): 'Back in the mid-1990s, both Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov -- bitter rivals at the time -- wrote separate columns for the USCF's Chess Life (CL)'
<P>
Re the 1998 FIDE World Championship tournament, the October 1998 issue of CL carried the following advertisement. It echoes that issue's 'On the Cover' introduction.
<P ALIGN=CENTER>
<IMG SRC="https://www.mark-weeks.com/wccb/wcb-nj11.gif" WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=330>
<P>
The postponement of the tournament until 1999 (to be discussed in next month's <I>November 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</I>) had a negative impact on a possible reset of relations between FIDE and Kasparov. From my page on the '1998-99 World Chess Council':-
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In December [1998], FIDE Secretary Emmanuel Omuku verbally rejected Kok's offer to finance the match between Kasparov and a FIDE champion. The FIDE championship in Las Vegas had been cancelled, reportedly due to contract difficulties with Karpov, so the FIDE decision may have been due more to the lack of a player than to any fundamental opposition to the idea. Some observers suspected that the collapse of the Russian economy in August may have been a factor in FIDE's cancellation of the event. The cancellation meant that there was little world class chess in December, as most other events had been pushed off the calendar.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
Unfortunately, the USchess.org URL mentioned in the CL ad is not available via Archive.org. To explore what is available from the USchess site around the same time, see
<A HREF="https://web.archive.org/web/19980615000000*/http://www.uschess.org/">Archive.org on 1998 USchess.org</A>.
For more about GM Shirov's U.S. activities in 1998, see
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2022/12/shirovs-smartchess-videos.html">Shirov's SmartChess Videos</A>
(December 2022).
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-44821851755902117942023-10-04T17:11:00.001+02:002023-10-05T10:16:51.627+02:00Small Projects 'On the Cover'Last week's post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/09/small-projects-checkpoint.html">Small Projects Checkpoint</A>
(September 2023), was all about establishing a plan for the next few months on this blog. For example,
<BLOCKQUOTE>
One topic demands attention -- documenting the qualification paths for the most recent World Cup, '2023 World Cup, Baku' (August 2023).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>
On my main blog, 'Chess for All Ages', the past year has seen a dozen posts on various aspects of the World Championship. It's useful to summarize these posts in order to group them chronologically using this blog's system of labels. Posts marked '(*)' need further attention to develop some interesting aspect which was only mentioned in the original post.
<UL>
<LI>
2022-11-18:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2022/11/a-clock-without-hands.html">'A Clock Without Hands'</A>
•
'"We're nearing the end of this blog's 'Fischer Friday' series". I'll end the series with a post on "1975 Fischer forfeits to Karpov" (m-w.com)'; also summarizes previous posts in Fischer series
<LI>
2022-12-23:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2022/12/wayback-to-chessnet.html">Wayback to Chess.net</A>
•
'What did former World Champion Karpov say exactly?'
<LI>
2022-12-30:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2022/12/world-championship-columnists.html">World Championship Columnists</A>
•
'In the mid-1990s, both Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov -- bitter rivals at the time -- wrote separate columns for the USCF's Chess Life'
<LI>
2023-01-03:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/01/january-1973-1998-on-cover.html">January 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
'Interviews of Fischer, Spassky, and Gudmundur Thorarinsson, president of the Icelandic Chess Federation'
<LI>
2023-01-05:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/01/chess-at-trump-tower.html">Chess at Trump Tower</A>
•
'Intel World Chess Championship Quarterfinal Matches'
<LI>
2023-02-02:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/02/february-1973-1998-on-cover.html">February 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
CL: 'Anand cuts through FIDE knock-out to challenge Karpov'
<LI>
2023-03-09:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/03/march-1973-1998-on-cover.html">March 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
'Karpov defended his FIDE World Championship title'; 'Kasparov will finally defend his PCA World Championship title'; 'Ilyumzhinov has announced plans to make the knockout world championship an annual affair. Las Vegas is high on the list of possible sites for 1998.'
(*)
<LI>
2023-04-18:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-1973-1998-on-cover.html">April 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
'Byrne's progress in that World Championship cycle' [needs better intro in post]; ' news of Kasparov's non-FIDE World Championship title; see also the letter from Karpov'
(*)
<LI>
2023-07-20:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/07/july-1973-1998-on-cover.html">July 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
'FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov addressed more than 200 players'
<LI>
2023-08-15:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/08/august-1973-1998-on-cover.html">August 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
IZ 1973 Leningrad; Shirov/Kasparov news
(*)
<LI>
2023-09-12:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/09/september-1973-1998-on-cover.html">September 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
IZ 1973 Petropolis, Brazil; '"Bronstein replaced Stein", doesn't square with related info on my other pages. More research needed'
(*)
<LI>
2023-10-03:
<A HREF="https://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2023/10/october-1973-1998-on-cover.html">October 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'</A>
•
Vukcevich; Kasparov - Shirov (WCC); *1998* FIDE World Championship, Las Vegas
(*)
</UL>
<P>
I trust that the title and description of each post is sufficient to place it chronologically.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4492636344717431722.post-76082434579631873292023-09-27T17:05:00.002+02:002023-09-30T12:09:54.952+02:00Small Projects CheckpointAfter last week's post,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/09/forthcoming-events.html">Forthcoming Events</A>
(September 2023), it's time to shift gears. In the past I regularly prepared a summary of open points that required attention. The most recent posts were for 2020 and 2021:-
<UL>
<LI>
2020-02-26:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2020/02/small-projects-for-2020.html">Small Projects for 2020</A>
<LI>
2021-02-24:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2021/02/small-projects-for-2021.html">Small Projects for 2021</A>
</UL>
<P>
I'm not yet prepared to do a similar overview, but at least one topic demands attention -- documenting the qualification paths for the most recent World Cup,
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/08/2023-world-cup-baku-azerbaijan.html">2023 World Cup, Baku</A>
(August 2023). It's a time consuming procedure that involves pulling together various sources of information. Here's what I produced for the previous cycle (C30 in my system of numbering the World Championship cycles):-
<UL>
<LI>
2021-10-27:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2021/10/c30-regulations-for-world-cup-qualifiers.html">C30 Regulations for World Cup Qualifiers</A>
<LI>
2022-01-12:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/01/c30-zonals.html">C30 Zonals</A>
<LI>
2022-01-19:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/01/c30-zonals-indexed.html">C30 Zonals Indexed</A>
<LI>
2022-01-26:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/01/c30-zonal-clippings.html">C30 Zonal Clippings</A>
<LI>
2022-02-09:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/02/c30-more-zonal-clippings.html">C30 More Zonal Clippings</A>
<LI>
2022-02-16:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/02/c30-zonal-qualification-paths.html">C30 Zonal Qualification Paths</A>
<LI>
2022-03-30:
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2022/03/c30-zonal-hybrid-events.html">C30 Zonal Hybrid Events</A>
</UL>
<P>
While I was looking at those posts, I added the phrase 'World Cup' to my index pages. The entries for World Cup events previously listed only venues and years. That worked when there was only a single qualifying event for the Candidates event, but in recent years there have been as many as three qualifiers:
the World Cup,
the Grand Swiss, and
the Grand Prix.
<P>
For the current cycle (C31), the Grand Prix has been scrapped and replaced by 'High-Level International Tournaments (HIT)'. See
<A HREF="https://worldchesschampionship.blogspot.com/2023/01/fide-no-to-gpx-and-gct-yes-to-hit.html">FIDE: 'No' to GPX and GCT; 'Yes' to HIT</A>
(January 2023), for the previous post on the subject.
Mark Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10101044127493771263noreply@blogger.com0