FIDE defies WADA ban: Sochi proudly goes ahead regardless of consequences!

Carlsen amongst participants!

The World Cup is a month long competition!  Ultimately just 2 of the 206 participants will qualify for the 2022 Candidates Tournament.  The knock-out style event is all part of FIDE’s World Championship cycle.  

Running parallel to this tournament is the Women’s World Cup — which will qualify 3 players to next year’s Women’s Candidates Tournament.

Covid restrictions are in place and while there are allowed a limited number of spectators, there can be no mingling between players and spectators.  Wearing masks at the board seems to be optional.

The tournament is 8 rounds long, with each round seeing 2 games played between the same players (in case of a tie, there are tiebreaks). The winner moves on to the next round, while the loser goes home.  The event started on the 10th and continues until the 8th of August.

Photos by Eric Rosen and Anastasia Korolkova.