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FIDE Grand Prix 2014-15

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 playing just three tournaments. As a result there is no more strike result, but each tournament result counts toward the total points. Sixteen players were selected to compete in the tournaments.

Each tournament is 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, with four more nominees from the organisers and one from the FIDE President to be announced at a later date.

Five original invitees declined to participate: Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov. The first four of these had similarly 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." Moreover, there was no prize money for overall standings, as there had been in previous Grand Prixes.

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. Iranian player Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami was replaced by Georgian Baadur Jobava after the third stop was moved from Tehran to Tbilisi.

Invitee Country Qualifying method
Dmitry Andreikin Russia Chess World Cup 2013
Evgeny Tomashevsky Russia
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France
Fabiano Caruana Italy FIDE rating list (from May 2013 to April 2014)
Alexander Grischuk Russia
Hikaru Nakamura United States
Sergey Karjakin Russia
Leinier Domínguez Cuba
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan
Boris Gelfand Israel
Peter Svidler Russia
Dmitry Jakovenko Russia organiser's nominees
Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan
Rustam Kasimdzhanov Uzbekistan
Baadur Jobava Georgia
Anish Giri Netherlands 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).

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:

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

Schedule

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

No. Host city Date Winners Points (win/draw/loss)
1 Baku, Azerbaijan 1 - 15 October 2014 Fabiano Caruana (ITA)
Boris Gelfand (ISR)
6.5/11 (+4=5-2),
6.5/11 (+3=7-1)
2 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 20 October - 3 November 2014 Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 7/11 (+3=8-0)
3 Tbilisi, Georgia 14 - 28 February 2015 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 8/11 (+5=6-0)
4 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia 14 - 26 May 2015 Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
Fabiano Caruana (ITA)
Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS)
6½/11 (+2=9-0)
6½/11 (+3=7-1)
6½/11 (+4=5-2)

Events crosstables

Baku 2014

1st stage, Baku, Azerbaijan, 1 October - 15 October 2014
Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total SB TPR GP
1 Fabiano Caruana (ITA) 2844 * ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 155
2 Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2748 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 155
3 Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2767 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6 82
4 Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2797 1 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 6 82
5 Peter Svidler (RUS) 2732 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 6 82
6 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2701 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 6 82
7 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2764 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6 82
8 Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2726 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 50
9 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2764 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 5 35
10 Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB) 2706 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 5 35
11 Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2722 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 20
12 Leinier Dominguez (CUB) 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
Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total SB TPR GP
1 Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2722 * 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 7 170
2 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2764 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 125
3 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2764 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 125
4 Baadur Jobava (GEO) 2717 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 6 75
5 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2757 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 6 75
6 Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2767 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 6 75
7 Fabiano Caruana (ITA) 2844 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 6 75
8 Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2726 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 50
9 Anish Giri (NED) 2768 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 5 40
10 Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2747 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 30
11 Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB) 2706 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 15
12 Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2748 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 15

Tbilisi 2015

3rd stage, Tbilisi, Georgia, 14 February - 28 February 2015
Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total SB TPR GP
1 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2716 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ ½ 8 170
2 Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2733 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 140
3 Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2731 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 6 110
4 Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB) 2705 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 75
5 Leinier Dominguez (CUB) 2726 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 75
6 Anish Giri (NED) 2797 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 75
7 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2759 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 0 ½ 1 75
8 Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2810 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ 5 40
9 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2775 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 5 40
10 Baadur Jobava (GEO) 2696 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 0 0 * 1 ½ 5 40
11 Peter Svidler (RUS) 2739 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 20
12 Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2737 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 4 10

Khanty-Mansiysk 2015

4th stage, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, 14 May - 26 May 2015
Player Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total SB TPR GP
1 Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2738 * ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 140
2 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2799 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 140
3 Fabiano Caruana (ITA) 2803 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 140
4 Leinier Domínguez (CUB) 2734 1 ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 6 85
5 Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2744 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 6 85
6 Peter Svidler (RUS) 2734 1 ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 55
7 Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2780 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 55
8 Anish Giri (NED) 2776 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 1 ½ 55
9 Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2753 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 1 55
10 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2749 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 * 1 ½ 5 30
11 Baadur Jobava (GEO) 2699 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 4 20
12 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2754 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 10

Grand Prix standings

Grand Prix points in bold indicate a tournament win.

Player FIDE rating
May 2015
Baku Tashkent Tbilisi Khanty-
Mansiysk
Total
1 Fabiano Caruana (ITA) 2803 155 75 140 370
2 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2799 82 125 140 347
3 Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2738 30 140 140 310
4 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2749 82 170 30 282
5 Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2744 155 15 85 255
6 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2735 35 125 75 235
7 Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2753 82 75 55 212
8 Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2738 50 50 110 210
9 Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2723 20 170 10 200
10 Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2780 82 40 55 177
11 Leinier Domínguez (CUB) 2734 10 75 85 170
12 Anish Giri (NED) 2776 40 75 55 170
13 Peter Svidler (RUS) 2734 82 20 55 157
14 Baadur Jobava (GEO) 2699 75 40 20 135
15 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2754 75 40 10 125
16 Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB) 2715 35 15 75 125
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