CHENNAI:The next 25 days will witness exciting games, intense battles, lots of tension and frayed nerves, when the World Chess Cup starts in Baku on Friday. Former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, who leads the Grand Chess Tour standings, has been given top billing in the most competitive tournament of the year.
Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Alexander Grishcuk, Ding Liren, Dmitry Jakovenko, Boris Gelfand and Peter Svidler are among star attractions.
On current form, Topalov is a strong contender even though his record in the knockout format is not awe-inspiring. Nakamura, who has had a great 2015, winning three tournaments (Gibraltar, Zurich, USA Championship), can be termed another favourite.
Caruana, Liren, Grischuk and Giri have the game and temperament to go all the way if they get through their first four rounds, which can be tricky. Former World Cup winner Aronian, who ended his lean patch by winning the Sinquefield Cup, will target the two spots, which will guarantee him a spot in the 2016 Candidates.
Defending champion Kramnik was unstoppable in the 2013 World Cup in Tromso and won without losing a game. An encore will be tough even for the former world champion. This is probably the last chance for the Russian to make it to the Candidates. Kramnik’s form has been erratic in 2015 but he cannot be counted out.
Hosts Azerbaijan are pinning hopes on Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov. Mamedyarov is in good shape after winning a match against Austrian No 1 Markus Ragger. One can expect positive results from Radjabov too.
“Aronian and Kramnik should qualify for the Candidates but one never knows in this format,” said India GM Sundararajan Kidambi on Aronian and Kramnik’s chances.
World Cup roll of honour
2000: V Anand
2002: V Anand
2005: L Aronian
2007: G Kamsky
2009: B Gelfand
2011: P Svidler
2013: V Kramnik
Important pairings (1st round):
Topalov (Bul) vs Oladapo Adu (Ngr), Nakamura (USA) vs Phri Richmond (Zam), Caruana (USA) vs A Zaibi (Tun), Giri (Ned) vs Ssegwanyi (Uga), Kramnik (Rus) vs Cori Deysi (Per), Grischuk (Rus) vs Atabayev (Tkm), Ding Liren (Chn) vs T Krnan (Can), Aronian (Arm) vs Weidenkeller (Lux).