World Cup of Chess 2009

Very unlike the 2010 Football World Cup scheduled for South Africa in 2010, the World Cup of Chess is an individual event. Winners and top qualifiers from the various zonal events will slug it out in this  premier championship taking place in exotic Khanty-Mansiysk (pronunced ‘hunty-mun-sisk), Russia from 20 November to 15 December 2009. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship Cycle 2009-2011.

Incidentally, Khanty-Mansiyk will also host the Chess Olympiad 2010 which is a team event attracting almost every country member of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). You bet Team Singapore will also be there as well.

The Championship is a 7 Round-Knock-Out tournament. The first 6 rounds shall be played over two games whilst the 7^th round will be over 4 games. Time control shall be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. In the event of a tie, tie-break matches will be played to break the deadlock.

128 luminaries of the Chess world will be there competing for honours in a tournament boasting a staggering total prize fund of 1.6 million US Dollars with 20 % going to FIDE. Even the players knock-out of round 1 will receive a consolation US $ 6,000 each and after FIDE’s cut, a net of US $ 4,800.

The winner brings home US $ 120,000 before tax.

Follow the action and heartbreaks at the Official Website.