The Agon Schedule

In Evolution of a Press Release and Agon's Paulson at the FIDE General Assembly, I reported on the the relationship between Agon and FIDE, but what exactly has Agon contracted to do for FIDE? The full agreement was published by Chessvibes.com at the time of the 2012 General Assembly: Agreement between FIDE and Agon [PDF]. Here is an excerpt.

2. SCHEDULE OF COMPETITIONS

2.1 The Events shall include the following Competitions (or the same number of events which may have different Formats or Schedules) during the term of the Agreement, during each World Chess Championship cycle:

(a) the World Chess Championship Match, every second year;

(b) the World Chess Challenger competition (also known as the Candidates Tournament), alternating with the World Chess Championship, every second year;

(c) six Grand Prix competitions or their equivalent, as may be agreed between FIDE and Agon from time to time, are spread out over the two year cycle;

(d) the World Cup competition held in 2015 and each second year thereafter; provided that the World Cup competition shall only be a "Competition" hereunder if (i) FIDE has used its best efforts to bundle that and subsequent World Cup and Chess Olympiad with a single sponsor; and (ii) FIDE has notified Agon no later than 18 month prior to the start of the calendar year in which the World Cup is to take place that it has failed to find such a sponsor. For any World Cup that is not a "Competition" hereunder, Agon will remain available to provide full marketing and branding support for this event, as specifically provided for in this Agreement, as with all the other Competitions provided that there are no branding and sponsorship conflicts;

(e) any other competition that offers or assures the winner a place in the World Chess Challenger competition; and

(f) such additional competitions ("Additional Competitions") as may be designated as Competitions by Interface Resolution from time to time.

In short, Agon will be responsible for the World Championship title match, the Candidates event, and the Grand Prix. Should FIDE be unable to bundle the World Cup with the Olympiad, the World Cup will be included. An entire cycle will take place over two years instead of the haphazard scheduling we've seen over the last few cycles.