FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 explained

FIDE Grand Prix Series 2014–15
Sport:	Chess
Location:	Baku Tashkent Tbilisi Khanty-Mansiysk
Start Date:	1 October 2014
End Date:	26 May 2015
Administrator:	FIDE
Tournament Format:	Series of Round-robin tournaments
Teams:	-->
Runners-Up1:	Hikaru Nakamura
Runner-Up2:	-->
Previous:	FIDE Grand Prix 2012–13
Next:	FIDE Grand Prix 2017

The FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2016. Fabiano Caruana finished first, and Hikaru Nakamura second in the overall standings. Both therefore qualified for the 2016 Candidates Tournament.

Format

In contrast to the two previous Grand Prix cycles the number of tournaments was decreased from six to four, and players played three tournaments instead of four. As a result, no results were discarded, but each tournament result counted toward the total points. Sixteen players were selected to compete in the tournaments.^[1]

Each tournament was a 12-player, single round-robin tournament. In each round players scored 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 for a loss. Grand Prix points were then allocated according to each player's standing in the tournament: 170 Grand Prix points for first place, 140 for second place, 110 for third place, and then 90 down to 10 points by steps of 10. In case of a tie in points the Grand Prix points are shared evenly by the tied players.

Players

The Grand Prix consists of 16 players. FIDE announced 11 qualifiers as per regulations, plus one nominee from each of the four organisers, and one FIDE President nominee.

Five original invitees declined to participate: Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov. The first four of these had also declined to participate in the FIDE Grand Prix 2012–13. In a later interview, Aronian said "I found it quite insulting to compete in a tournament with the first prize half as large as my participation fee [for] almost any other tournament [at] that time."^[2] Moreover, there was no prize money for overall standings, as there had been in previous Grand Prixes.^[3]

All five Grand Prix replacements were determined by the rating list as per regulations.

The final list of players was announced on 9 September 2014.^[4] Iranian player Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami was replaced by Georgian Baadur Jobava after the third stop was moved from Tehran to Tbilisi.^[5]

Invitee	Country	Qualifying method
		Chess World Cup 2013


		FIDE rating list (from May 2013 to April 2014)







		organiser's nominees



		FIDE President's nominee

Prize money and Grand Prix points

The prize money is €120,000 per single Grand Prix (down from €170,000) and there is no financial bonus for the overall standings (€420,000 last in 2012–13).^[6]

Place	Single Grand Prix event	Grand Prix points
1	€20,000	170
2	€15,000	140
3	€13,000	110
4	€11,000	90
5	€10,000	80
6	€9,500	70
7	€9,000	60
8	€8,500	50
9	€7,500	40
10	€6,500	30
11	€5,500	20
12	€4,500	10

Tie breaks

With the objective of determining qualifiers to play in the Candidates 2016, and in the case that two or more players have equal cumulative points at the top, the following criteria were utilized to decide the overall Series winner and other overall placings:^[6]

Number of actual game result points scored in the three tournaments entered.
Number of games played with black.
Number of wins.
Number of black wins.
Drawing of lots.

Schedule

The third stop was initially to be played in Tehran, Iran but a move was announced in October.^[5] The fourth stop moved from Moscow to Khanty-Mansiysk.

No.	Host city	Date	Points (win/draw/loss)
1		1 – 15 October 2014	6.5/11 (+4=5–2), 6.5/11 (+3=7–1)
2		20 October – 3 November 2014	7/11 (+3=8–0)
3		14 – 28 February 2015	8/11 (+5=6–0)
4	Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia	14 – 26 May 2015	6½/11 (+2=9–0) 6½/11 (+3=7–1) 6½/11 (+4=5–2)

Events crosstables

Baku 2014

1st stage, Baku, Azerbaijan, 1–15 October 2014^[7] ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! Total !! SB !! TPR !! GP
1	align=left	2844		½	1	0	1	½	½	½	1	½	0	1	6½	155
2	align=left	2748	½		½	1	½	½	½	1	0	½	1	½	6½	155
3	align=left	2767	0	½		½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	6	82
4	align=left	2797	1	0	½		½	½	½	0	½	1	½	1	6	82
5	align=left	2732	0	½	½	½		½	½	½	1	½	½	1	6	82
6	align=left	2701	½	½	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	1	½	6	82
7	align=left	2764	½	½	0	½	½	½		½	½	1	1	½	6	82
8	align=left	2726	½	0	½	1	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	5½	50
9	align=left	2764	0	1	½	½	0	½	½	½		½	½	½	5	35
10	align=left	2706	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½		1	½	5	35
11	align=left	2722	1	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	0		1	4½	20
12	align=left	2751	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	0		3	10

Tashkent 2014

2nd stage, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 20 October – 3 November 2014^[8] ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! Total !! SB !! TPR !! GP
1	align=left	2722		1	½	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	7	170
2	align=left	2764	0		½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	6½	125
3	align=left	2764	½	½		1	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	6½	125
4	align=left	2717	0	½	0		½	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	6	75
5	align=left	2757	½	½	½	½		½	1	½	½	0	1	½	6	75
6	align=left	2767	0	½	½	0	½		½	½	1	1	1	½	6	75
7	align=left	2844	½	½	½	½	0	½		½	½	1	½	1	6	75
8	align=left	2726	½	½	½	½	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	5½	50
9	align=left	2768	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½		½	½	½	5	40
10	align=left	2747	½	0	½	½	1	0	0	½	½		½	½	4½	30
11	align=left	2706	½	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	½		½	3½	15
12	align=left	2748	½	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	½		3½	15

Tbilisi 2015

3rd stage, Tbilisi, Georgia, 14–28 February 2015^[9] ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! Total !! SB !! TPR !! GP
1	align=left	2716		½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	½	½	8	170
2	align=left	2733	½		½	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	6½	140
3	align=left	2731	½	½		½	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	6	110
4	align=left	2705	0	½	½		½	½	1	0	½	½	1	½	5½	75
5	align=left	2726	½	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	0	½	1	5½	75
6	align=left	2797	½	0	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	1	½	5½	75
7	align=left	2759	0	½	½	0	½	½		1	1	0	½	1	5½	75
8	align=left	2810	0	½	0	1	½	½	0		½	1	½	½	5	40
9	align=left	2775	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	½		1	½	½	5	40
10	align=left	2696	0	0	½	½	1	½	1	0	0		1	½	5	40
11	align=left	2739	½	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	0		1	4½	20
12	align=left	2737	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	0		4	10

Khanty-Mansiysk 2015

4th stage, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, 14–26 May 2015^[10] ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! Total !! SB !! TPR !! GP
1	align=left	2738		½	1	0	½	0	½	1	1	½	½	1	6½	140
2	align=left	2799	½		½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	6½	140
3	align=left	2803	0	½		½	½	½	1	½	½	1	½	1	6½	140
4	align=left	2734	1	½	½		½	1	½	½	½	½	0	½	6	85
5	align=left	2744	½	½	½	½		1	½	½	½	½	½	½	6	85
6	align=left	2734	1	½	½	0	0		½	1	½	0	1	½	5½	55
7	align=left	2780	½	½	0	½	½	½		½	1	½	½	½	5½	55
8	align=left	2776	0	½	½	½	½	0	½		½	1	1	½	5½	55
9	align=left	2753	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	½		1	½	1	5½	55
10	align=left	2749	½	½	0	½	½	1	½	0	0		1	½	5	30
11	align=left	2699	½	0	½	1	½	0	½	0	½	0		½	4	20
12	align=left	2754	0	0	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	½		3½	10

Grand Prix standings

Grand Prix points in bold indicate a tournament win. Green indicates qualifiers of the 2016 Candidates Tournament

	FIDE rating May 2015	Baku	Tashkent	Tbilisi	Khanty- Mansiysk	Total
1	2803	155	75		140	370
2	2799	82	125		140	347
3	2738		30	140	140	310
4	2749	82		170	30	282
5	2744	155	15		85	255
6	2735	35	125	75		235
7	2753	82	75		55	212
8	2738	50	50	110		210
9	2723	20	170	10		200
10	2780	82		40	55	177
11	2734	10		75	85	170
12	2776		40	75	55	170
13	2734	82		20	55	157
14	2699		75	40	20	135
15	2754		75	40	10	125
16	2715	35	15	75		125

External links

Notes and References

Web site: FIDE Grand-Prix 2014-2015 Announcement. FIDE. 20 August 2014. 20 August 2014.
http://chess-news.ru/en/node/20416 Levon Aronian: "I'm Friendly in Everyday Life and a Fighter Over the Board" (interview)
https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/FIDE_GP_Regulations_2014_2015.pdf FIDE GP Regulations 2014-15
Web site: International Chess Federation – FIDE.
Web site: Grand Prix Announcement. FIDE. 17 October 2014. 15 October 2014.
Web site: Regulations for the Grand Prix. FIDE. 20 August 2014.
http://baku2014.fide.com/ Baku Grand Prix: Official site
http://tashkent2014.fide.com/ Tashkent Grand Prix: Official site
http://tbilisi2015.fide.com/ Tbilisi Grand Prix: Official site
http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/ Khanty-Mansiysk Grand Prix: Official site