WebsiteThe FIDE World Cup takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan Sunday 30th Jul to Thursday 24th Aug 2023. The event is a qualifier for the FIDE Candidates tournament as well as being worth winning in its own right. Magnus Carlsen is the top seed, he has never won the event and clearly sees this as something he would like to rectify. His leading rivals are Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Teimour Radjabov. D Gukesh, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a strong field. Alongside is an equally well represented women's field including World Champion Ju Wenjun. Play starts at 12pm BST or 15:00 local time. The leading players join the event in round 2.
Report
chess 24 liveAt 3 PM sharp local time in Baku (Azerbaijan), the first round of the World Cup began, where altogether 228 players in the Open and the Women's tournament are fighting for the top three places in each group leading to the Candidates tournament, the final qualifying stage to select the next challenger for the title of World Champion.
Not all of the players are taking part in the first round. As per regulation, the top 50 players in the Open and the top 25 in the Women's section will join the event from the second round.
Altogether, 114 games were played in round one – 76 in the Open tournament and 38 in the Women's. Three players did not manage to show up in Baku despite being registered – Eric Hansen and Christopher Yoo in the Open, and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya in the Women's tournament.
David Howell will have to wait to know his second round opponent, as Brkic and Matamoros Franco have drawn their 2 games so far
