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Baku to host FIDE Chess World Cup 2015

19 August 2015 15:40 (UTC+04:00)
Baku to host FIDE Chess World Cup 2015

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan’s beautiful capital of Baku will host the FIDE Chess World Cup 2015 this fall.

One of the most important competitions of FIDE, the World Cup will bring together 128 of the best chessplayers from around the world to Baku from September 10 to October 5.

This year’s Chess World Cup has a prize fund of $1.6 million.

Matches consist of two games, except for the final, which consists of four. Players will have 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an additional 30 seconds per move from the start of the game. If a match is tied after the regular games, tie-breaking games will be played on the next day.

The finalists will advance to the 2016 Candidates Tournament to be held in the U.S., which will determine the World Chess Champion.

Praising the World Chess Cup 2015 in Baku, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov noted that the tournament will provide the clout to help develop this sport in Azerbaijan.

“I am glad that holding prestigious sporting events has become a tradition for Azerbaijan,” Ilyumzhinov said. “Today, Baku is known throughout the world as the impeccable organizer of the international sports competitions. A striking example is the first 2015 European Games, ended with great success, which was remembered with numerous medals won by Azerbaijani athletes.”

The European Games, which was held in Baku between June 12 and 28, hosted 6,000 athletes from 50 nations. Athletes competed in 20 sports, of which 16 were Olympic disciplines and 12 were used as Olympic qualifiers for Rio 2016.

The FIDE president noted, “Chess has played a crucial role in Azerbaijani culture, which has a history of more than two thousand years.”

He stated that last year, Baku organized the first stage of the FIDE Grand Prix series at a high level. Next year, Azerbaijan is going to host the 42nd World Chess Olympiad.

“The federation has no doubt that the tournament will be held at a high level,” he said. “I can confidently say that Azerbaijan occupies its inherent role in the development of world chess. I am absolutely sure, that the World Cup will be held successfully and will be a test for the 42nd World Chess Olympiad.”

In a few days, the attention of the world chess community will be on Baku for the World Cup, said Mahir Mammadov, the director of the Organizing Committee of the Baku Chess Olympiad and the World Cup.

“Numerous journalists from different European cities will come to see the competition. We are trying for the participants and guests to witness the high organization of the competition,” he noted.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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