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====Game 2: Karjakin-Carlsen ½-½====
====Game 2: Karjakin-Carlsen ½-½====
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. d4 Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Re8 13. Ra1 Nc4 14. Re1 Rc8 15. h3 h6 16. b3 Nb6 17. Bb2 Bf8 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. a4 c6 20. Qxd8 Rcxd8 21. axb5 axb5 22. Ne2 Bb4 23. Bc3 Bxc3 24. Nxc3 Nbd7 25. Ra6 Rc8 26. b4 Re6 27. Rb1 c5 28. Rxe6 fxe6 29. Nxb5 cxb4 30. Rxb4 Rxc2 31. Nd6 Rc1+ 32. Kh2 Rc2 33. Kg1 ½-½


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 22:52, 12 November 2016

After Game 2 of 12
Defending champion Challenger
Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Karjakin
 Magnus Carlsen (NOR)  Sergey Karjakin (RUS)
1 1
Born 30 November 1990
25 years old 		Born 12 January 1990
26 years old
Winner of the 2014 World Chess Championship Winner of the Candidates Tournament 2016
Rating: 2853 (Ranked #1)[1] Rating: 2772 (Ranked #9)[1]

The World Chess Championship 2016 is an ongoing chess match between reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karjakin to determine the World Chess Champion.[2] It is being under the auspices of FIDE, the world chess federation, with the organisation rights belonging to Agon, its commercial partner.[3]

The 12-game match is taking place between 11–30 November in the renovated Fulton Market Building (formerly Fulton Fish Market) in the South Street Seaport in New York City,[4] with the two contestants competing for a prize fund of at least 1 million euros (US$1.1m).[5] If the score is tied after 12 games, a four-game rapid chess match will be played, then five two-game matches of blitz chess if necessary, and finally, an Armageddon game will be used to break the tie. (Regulations 3.7).[2]

Although the comprehensive effect of the venture is yet to be seen, Agon has proclaimed: "The world chess championship in New York will be the first in any sport to be broadcast in 360-degree virtual reality (VR)."[6][7] Previous comments about the August 2016 Rio Olympics opening ceremony VR experience were mixed.[8]

Planning

The planning of the 2016 championship was a quite convoluted process even by FIDE's standards, firstly due to various novel features such as the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announcing the country (USA) two years in advance, and also Agon striving for substantial commercial sponsorship and media rights deals to try to meet their contractual obligations, but moreover due to the sudden US Treasury sanctions against Ilyumzhinov, right at the time when the plans were to be finalized.

Timeline

  • November 27, 2014: At the closing ceremony for the 2014 championship, FIDE president Ilyumzhinov announces the 2016 match will take place in the USA.[9]
  • September 7, 2015: Agon file a report to FIDE, declaring a 2 million euro prize fund to be secured, with the city and venue to be named by November 2015, exactly a year before the Championship.[10]
  • October 4, 2015: At the 2015 Chess World Cup, Ilyumzhinov reiterates the location as the USA, saying that the date and place were already final.[11]
  • November 25, 2015: Ilyumzhinov is sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.[12]
  • December 6, 2015: Ilyumzhinov suspends his authority in FIDE, allowing Makropoulos his deputy to act fully.[13]
  • December 15, 2015: FIDE and Agon sign media rights deal with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, listing 7-figures (in unknown currency) until 2020.[14]
  • January 8, 2016: FIDE announces that Agon has made operational an official broadcasting platform (worldchess.com) for the World Chess Championship cycle events (already present in October 2015).[15] This violates Section 12.4.1 of the FIDE World Championship Match Regulations, which specify the organizer not to develop any other site than the official fwcm2016.fide.com web domain (changing to nyc2016.fide.com once venue was announced).[2][16]
  • January 11, 2016: Russian Chess Federation president Filatov wonders aloud if the championship preparations in the USA are proceeding.[17][18] Agon's CEO Ilya Merenzon responds by saying that there is no obstacle, with host city negotiations in the final stage, and Agon together with FIDE will announce the host city by the end of the month.[19]
  • March 1, 2016: Agon announce that the city will be New York City, with approval from its mayor. There are still 5 or 6 possible venues, and though some sponsors are confirmed, Merenzon declines to identify them.[20] The prize fund is only mentioned as being at least 1 million euros.[5]
  • March 4, 2016: Agon announce that only approved broadcasters will be allowed to retransmit moves from the Candidates and ensuing World Championship.[21] Furthermore, the official organizer of the Candidates is now listed (#4) as World Chess Events Limited.[22]
  • March 28, 2016: Sergey Karjakin wins the Candidates Tournament 2016 to qualify to play Magnus Carlsen.
  • April 24, 2016: After rumors a week prior in the Norwegian press about the match being moved from New York City,[23] in conjunction with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's comments, Agon note that Trump Tower is one option on a short list which exceeds 50.[24]
  • May 2, 2016: Agon post an official response to rumors regarding the match, re-confirming New York City and denoting any suggestion to the contrary as nonsense. Meanwhile, the venue and the sponsor line-up would be announced in due course.[25]
  • May 26, 2016: Agon head Ilya Merenzon says that "The contract between FIDE and Agon is finalized and is being signed. The contract between the players and FIDE will be finalized in the next 2-3 weeks."[26]
  • June 7, 2016: Agon announce that a venue has been found in New York City, with only sponsor details and paperwork left to be finalized in the next 2 weeks.[27]
  • June 29, 2016: The president of the Confederation of Chess for Americas (CCA) notes that the UBS bank accounts of FIDE that are denominated in US dollars have been temporarily blocked.[28]
  • July 15, 2016: Agon confirm that there is zero chance the match will take place somewhere else, and that there is no delay with sponsors, but rather ensuring a venue for a whole month in a place such as New York City has logistic constraints. An announcement will be made in 3–4 weeks.[29]
  • August 8, 2016: Agon announce the venue as the Fulton Market building in the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan.[30] This area was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and the building is currently closed and vacant, with an iPic luxury movie theater due in mid-2015 now waiting for over a year to move in.[31] Though the venue has been announced, the sponsors have not. They are expected to roll out their announcements in the coming weeks.[30] Tickets are announced as going on sale on August 17.[32]
  • August 30, 2016: Agon publish on their website that PhosAgro has signed a strategic partnership contract as a sponsor of the 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship.[33]
  • September 12, 2016: Agon announce EG Capital as a sponsor, and give pricing packages for virtual reality viewing options.[6][7]
  • September 30, 2016: Tickets go on sale.[34] Although a price of $50 (or initially "up to" this amount) had been previously mentioned by Agon in announcements and Merenzon at press conferences,[6][30] the lowest price listed is $75 per game.
  • October 17, 2016: Agon announce their new broadcast model for the World Championship.[35][36]

Planning details

During the closing ceremony of the 2014 Championship, the FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said the match would be held in the United States.[9] In a February 2016 interview with Die Zeit, Magnus Carlsen said that making this announcement so far in advance was a first.[37] Ordinarily in FIDE, the Chess Olympiad is contracted 4 years in advance, but the World Championship can often be thrown together at the last moment, in a matter of a few months.

Ilyumzhinov reiterated the USA plans in October at the Chess World Cup 2015, saying that the date and place were already final, it would occur in October 2016 in the USA, with five or six sponsors involved, and many cities (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago) offering themselves as a venue.[11] Most likely, Ilyumzhinov did not speak exactly in this extemporaneous interview, as other information had placed the event in November 2016, with Chicago replaced by San Francisco as a possible venue.

(Sep 2015) Agon's report

FIDE's commercial partner Agon reported to the September 2015 FIDE Executive Board as a special annex.[10] Here they demonstrate four major sponsors for 2016: Goldman Sachs Investment Banking, Audi, E.ON, and Isklar Water. Regarding the World Championship specifically, the report says "Agon has secured a prize fund (€2,000,000) and is working on developing sponsorship contracts. We’ll inform the [FIDE Presidential] Board and, if approved, announce the city and venue in November of 2015, exactly a year before the championship. We are looking at New York [City], Los Angeles and San Francisco. We are also working with ESPN and Sky Sports to make sure the Championship is on TV."

(Nov/Dec 2015) Ilyumzhinov's suspended authority in FIDE and its aftermath

However, all plans were then considered to be on hold, as on November 25, 2015 Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was named a Specially Designated National by the United States Department of the Treasury (Office of Foreign Assets Control), which in particular prohibits US persons from transacting with him.[12] Ilyumzhinov commented that the action was a provocation, as he was to be in New York on the ensuing Sunday to sign the contract for the World Championship.[38] Agon's news website declared that the sanctions would "probably not" affect the organization of the World Championship in the United States.[39] In an emergency FIDE Presidential Board meeting in early December, Ilyumzhinov temporarily suspended his authority in FIDE, delegating this to Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos.[13] The CEO of Agon, Ilya Merenzon, commented that this should make it easier to finalize a World Championship deal in the USA,[40] but by early January (40 days after Merenzon's original deadline), there had been no announced progress with concluding a deal. All that had been seen from FIDE is a January 8 news item briefly saying that Agon "has launched a site and an official broadcasting platform for the World Chess Championship cycle events" (worldchess.com), when in fact this site had become operational in early October 2015.[15][41]

Vladimir Kramnik noted that the timing of the sanctions was particularly onerous to FIDE, saying "A couple of months ago, I had a private conversation with a big American businessman who had been one of the initiators of this enterprise. He confirmed to me that the sponsors were ready to support the match - and perhaps even further major chess events in the USA. Then, the sanctions came just a few days before the conclusion."[42] Kramnik also hypothesized that Garry Kasparov might have been behind the sanctions as revenge for the 2014 FIDE elections, an idea that Kasparov hotly denied.[43]

In the FIDE-Agon contract (3.3b) there is a specific mention that a proposed event sponsor who has been sanctioned by the US Treasury for terrorism sponsorship can be rejected for that very reason,[3] though this would only be applicable to Ilyumzhinov via analogy, for instance as an indication of a violation of (2.2.11) of the FIDE Code of Ethics ("Any conduct likely to injure or discredit the reputation of FIDE, its events, organizers, participants, sponsors or that will enhance the goodwill which attaches to the same").[44]

While Ilyumzhinov's suspension of his authority solved some immediate problems with planning, there were still lingering effects. For instance, in late August 2016 Ilyumzhinov attempted to fly to the United States on Delta Air Lines (rather than Aeroflot which does the same route), but was denied boarding and refunded his money since as a US company they could not do business with him.[45][46] In late June 2016, the president of the Confederation of Chess for Americas (CCA) wrote that the UBS bank accounts of FIDE that were denominated in US dollars (one of them shared by the CCA, but in FIDE's name) had been temporarily blocked.[28][47]

(Jan/Feb 2016) Delays lead to skepticism

Remembering the failed 2014 bidding process, and given that Merenzon's desire to announce the World Championship one year in advance had passed, there was some skepticism voiced among top players that FIDE/Agon's plans for the World Championship in the USA in November 2016 would indeed materialize as hoped. For instance, on January 7, 2016 in an interview with Candidate Hikaru Nakamura by commentator Alex Yermolinsky, it was mentioned that the finalized plans for the World Championship could depend on who the challenger would be, and that if an American (Caruana or Nakamura) did not win the Candidates tournament, then probably the match would not be in the United States after all.[48]

The President of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov, echoed these sentiments a few days later in an interview with Russia Sport that was then translated into English and published as a FIDE news item, saying that negotiations with the United States had been suspended, and that a final agreement concerning the World Championship would only be reached in March.[17][18] In response, the head of Agon (Ilya Merenzon) immediately launched a news brief to rebut this, again reiterating that the World Championship will take place from November 9–30, 2016 in the United States, with a joint announcement of the host city by Agon/FIDE to occur later in January.[19]

(Mar 2016) Culmination (?)

Finally, on March 1, 2016, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that New York City would host the match. However, Merenzon declined to identify the sponsors.[20] Essentially, he stated that Agon was in line with Carlsen's manager on associating him with American companies, though finding a major US sponsor has little precedent. Senior chess photographer and journalist David Llada immediately criticized the lack of sponsorship details as "very unprofessional", as the announcement is seen as more of a statement of intent as no venue is specified either.[49] However, this is not uncommon with FIDE, to name cities first and let details work out later,[citation needed] as can be seen in the Candidates Tournament 2016 planning.

(Apr-Jul 2016) Resumed skepticism after Karjakin wins the Candidates

Almost immediately after Sergey Karjakin won the Candidates Tournament 2016 there were Internet rumours from politically-engaged chess players such as Nigel Short that the host city was likely to be changed.[50][51] These were later amplified by journalists such as Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam (editor of New in Chess) who stated to Norwegian broadcaster NRK (Apr 19): "I would like to travel to New York. But still I would be surprised if I had to go there for this match."[23] Agon moved to quash such "tittle-tattle and gossip" by a public message on May 2.[25] Near the end of May, according to an official FIDE interview with Merenzon, the contracts with the players would be finalized within the next 2–3 weeks.[26]

In early June they were proud to announce that a venue in New York City had been found, advising that in the next 2 weeks sponsor details and final paperwork would be finalized.[27] However, the situation dragged into mid-July, at which time Agon seemed unsure of a venue (citing difficulties of a month-long arrangement in New York City), but insisted that sponsors were in line, proposing 3-4 more weeks before an announcement would occur.[29] This time the comments came from Agon's press attaché (Andrew Murray-Watson) rather than Merenzon directly, and the comments were repeated to Leonard Barden and in the English Chess Forum.[52] The agenda for the September FIDE General Assembly, issued on July 29, listed point 5.20.3: "FIDE World Championship Match 2016. The event shall be held in New York, NY, USA, 11–30 November 2016."[53]

Throughout the process, Karjakin saw no reason to hide the fact that he would rather play in Russia,[51] and that anywhere in Europe would be superior to the USA.[54] According to career information at Chessgames.com, it appears that Karjakin has never previously played chess in the USA.[55]

(Aug 2016) Announcement of venue, but not yet the sponsors

On August 8, Agon announced that the Fulton Market building (formerly the Fulton Fish Market) in the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan would be the venue.[30] This site was chosen due to its foot traffic and commercial infrastructure.[4] The building was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and has remained closed and vacant ever since.[56] No date for the conclusion of renovations and reopening has been set by the owner (Howard Hughes Corporation),[57] though an iPic luxury movie theater originally scheduled for mid-2015 hopes to open in early October.[31]

Crucial to Agon's stated marketing strategy is the VIP area, for which they have partnered with CAA Premium Experience.[32] In the Candidates Tournament the VIP area caused difficulties with noise,[58] and the sponsor contravened International Olympic Committee regulations regarding hard liquor (see Sponsorship below).

Managers of both players were quite enthusiastic about the venue. Carlsen's manager Espen Agdestein was happy that the match would be commercially based and provide a great chance to really get chess on the map and promote the game, while Karjakin's manager Kiril Zangalis also said that it was good for chess.[59]

Contracts have not yet been signed, with Dagbladet reporting that the prize fund will be one million euros, with possible incentives for more.[60] Sponsors have yet to be named, with this again being questioned by some chess media as "flouting the normal rules of publicity",[61] while Agon defends this as having to abide by the timetable of the sponsors, with announcements scheduled in 2–3 weeks.[59]

(Sep 2016) Sponsors announced, and virtual reality ambitions

On August 30, Agon announced that PhosAgro had signed a strategic partnership contract to sponsor the 2016 FIDE World Championship Match.[33]

In an email to Chess.com, Agon's Julia Korotkova indicated that another sponsor would be revealed during the Baku Chess Olympiad 2016 (September 1--14), and more sponsors would be revealed closer to the start of the match, with there being no main (general) sponsor but rather a matrix of sponsors.[62]

On September 12 at the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, Merenzon gave a presentation where he announced EG Capital as a sponsor, and further described ambitious plans to bring a virtual reality viewership experience to chess.[7] Moreover, Livestream was announced as a streaming partner.[7] FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg noted that both players had signed their contracts, while Merenzon claimed demand for VIP access was far better than expected.[6] However, while pricing for the virtual reality packages was announced (including pre-purchase for events up to and including the prospective 2018 championship), tickets were still not available for the Fulton Market venue.[6] Tickets eventually went on sale on Sep 30, at $75 for the cheapest seat.[34] Merenzon had expected more sponsors to be announced approximately three weeks before the match started,[63] but in early November only Isklar water had been added as an official mineral water supplier.[64]

Merenzon said he has realistic hopes for 500,000 subscribers for the official livestream and broadcast, but in early November admitted that only a few thousand had signed up.[65] He later increased this to tens of thousands, but still admitted that 200000 were needed for the event to be revenue-neutral.[66]

Candidates Tournament

Main article: Candidates Tournament 2016

The Candidates Tournament was held on 11–30 March 2016 in Moscow, Russia, with FIDE's commercial partner Agon as the official organizer,[3] with support from the Russian Chess Federation.[67]

The tournament was contested as a double round-robin over 14 games, with rest days after Games 3, 6, 9, and 12. The winner of this 8-player Candidates Tournament would be the challenger for the 2016 World Chess Championship against Magnus Carlsen.[68]

Qualifiers

There were five different qualification paths to the Candidates Tournament.[68] In order of priority, these were: loser of the World Chess Championship 2014 match, the top two finishers in the Chess World Cup 2015, the top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, next two highest rated players (average FIDE rating on the 12 monthly lists from January to December 2015, with at least 30 games played) who played in Chess World Cup 2015 or FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, and one player nominated by the organizers (Agon).

Qualification path Player Age Rating Rank
Loser of the World Chess Championship 2014 match India Viswanathan Anand 46 2762 12
Winner of the Chess World Cup 2015 Russia Sergey Karjakin 26 2760 13
Runner-up of the Chess World Cup 2015 Russia Peter Svidler 39 2757 16
The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 United States Fabiano Caruana 23 2794 3
United States Hikaru Nakamura 28 2790 6
The top two players with highest average 2015 rating who played in World Cup or Grand Prix Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 41 2780 8
Netherlands Anish Giri 21 2793 4
Wild card nomination of Organizers (Agon), with FIDE rating in July 2015 at least 2725 Armenia Levon Aronian[67] 33 2786 7

At the time of the event, five of the players were ranked in the top 10 on the FIDE rating list.[69]

Results

Pos Player
 Pld W D L Pts Qualification KAR CAR ANA SVI ARO GIR NAK TOP
1  Sergey Karjakin (RUS) (Q) 14 4 9 1 8.5 Advance to title match —  1  ½   1  0   ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½   1  ½   1  ½ 
2  Fabiano Caruana (USA) 14 2 11 1 7.5  ½  0  —  1  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½   1  ½   ½  ½ 
3  Viswanathan Anand (IND) 14 4 7 3 7.5  1  0   ½  0  —  1  ½   1  ½   ½  ½   ½  0   1  ½ 
4  Peter Svidler (RUS) 14 1 12 1 7  ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  0  —  ½  1   ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½ 
5  Levon Aronian (ARM) 14 2 10 2 7  ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  0   0  ½  —  ½  ½   1  ½   ½  1 
6  Anish Giri (NED) 14 0 14 0 7  ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½   ½  ½  —  ½  ½   ½  ½ 
7  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 14 3 8 3 7  ½  0   ½  0   1  ½   ½  ½   ½  0   ½  ½  —  1  1 
8  Veselin Topalov (BUL) 14 0 9 5 4.5  ½  0   ½  ½   ½  0   ½  ½   0  ½   ½  ½   0  0  —
Source: moscow2016.fide.com
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Championship match (administrative)

Live broadcast

The Candidates Tournament 2016 saw a difficult situation when Agon (the organizer) tried to inhibit free broadcasting of live moves during the games. On October 17, a new scheme was announced for the World Championship, permitting live moves to be available on major media websites who join a free affiliate program (involving an official widget), and additionally giving such sites a commission for virtual reality broadcast sales referrals.[35] A plan with national federations gave them similar commission possibilities.[70] Merenzon opined: "A website that wants to broadcast the live moves for free simply has to request the use of our official widget. But any rogue website that chooses to operate a pirate broadcast of the live moves will be subject to legal action that is in line with our ongoing commitment to professionalise the commercial side of chess for the benefit of players and fans alike."[35][36]

Perhaps the biggest sticking point was the condition: "Chess websites that accept the terms of using the official broadcast widget will decline to add their own commentary and analysis tools to the live representation of the moves."[35][36] The affiliate websites would thus be restricted to simply relaying the Agon signal, and not allowed to add their own content. Agon's claim was that affiliates would financially benefit from the official premium broadcast via the commissions, instead of making money (as with other chess events) from their own developed resources involving commentary and analysis.[35]

There is not yet any announcement of the totality of official Agon commentators, or how many languages will be available. Only Judit Polgar has been announced so far.[71][72] According to the Agon Q&A, the free broadcast is only listed as having "sophisticated computer analytics" while their high-level commentary is available with the premium package.[36] It was also not clear whether affiliates would be required to impose Agon's conditions of service on their own end users.

ChessGames.com has responded to Agon in their Fall Newsletter, saying that they refused to be bullied and that [i]t is the informed opinion of Chessgames Services LLC that chess moves cannot be copyrighted under any circumstance.[73]

Agon continues to fight its legal battles, having lost the first round to Chess24.com over the Candidates Tournament 2016.[74][75] In a 12 page verdict, the judge accepted the jurisdiction of the Moscow Arbitration Courts, but already noted that Agon had sued the wrong entity (E-Learning Ltd)[76] instead of the actual website owner (Logical Thinking Limited),[77][78] and that the disputed commercial relationship was not governed by Russian law.[74] Furthermore, Agon's claim that chess moves could be considered trade secrets was rejected by the Court.[74] Agon noted that judges only spend 48 minutes on average on cases, and remained confident of a favourable outcome on appeal.[75]

For the World Championship itself, a motion for injunction was filed against Chess24.com and Chessgames.com in Manhattan federal court on the Monday prior to the Friday, November 11 commencement.[79] The case was heard on Thursday the 10th by Victor Marrero, and an injunction was declined.[80][81][82] Marrero rejected all of Agon's arguments and noted "I know this area of the law very well", having overseen the settlement in the 2010 hot news doctrine case between Briefing.com and Dow Jones.[83][84] Agon's lawyer Robert LoBue warned that if we are deprived of this revenue stream [from pay-per-view upgrades] then our client's business will not be economically viable.[66] LoBue represented Dow Jones in that 2010 case,[82] and has published an article (2012) where he argues that the hot news doctrine has been reduced to mainly the free-riding element.[85]

Agon's end product and its reception

Agon had difficulties with the live broadcast feed at the start of Game 1, and apologized for the problems.[86] Among multiple other difficulties including non-functional 360-degree virtual reality, the video quality was also thought to be subpar, with Agon promising to make up for it and claiming that luckily there were no major issues. As with the Candidates Tournament 2016, the official Agon commentators found the in-house software so difficult to use that they switched to an alternative.[87]

Match regulations

The match regulations have been put forth by FIDE.[2]

Arbiters

Neither FIDE nor Agon (through the official nyc2016.fide.com site) appears to have officially announced the arbiters, though from his attendance at the opening press conference, Takis Nikolopolous as head of the Arbiter's Commission appears to be the choice for Chief Arbiter.[88] Karjakin noted that his one organizational request was that the arbiter speak Russian, but this was not accepted per se.[89] Similarly, no mention of the members of the Appeals Committee has been publicized.

Agreed draws

Draws are not permitted before move 30, except by repetition of moves (3.8.3b).[2]

Dress code

Regulation 5.6 says that "Players are required to wear suits during the playing session."[2] This differs from the Candidates tournament (which lacked anything specific in §3.12.4),[90] during which some players (including Karjakin) wore jeans.[91][92] This aspect of the dress code, or lack thereof, became an issue in the 2016 Women's World Chess Championship Match, when the Ukrainian delegation made an official protest against Hou Yifan for wearing jeans.[93] However, in that case the regulation concerning dress made no specification.[94]

Sponsorship

According to Section 12.2 of the Regulations, no sponsor may conflict with the regulations of the International Olympic Committee. This could preclude various alcohol and tobacco companies,[95] though Beluga Noble Russian Vodka was a partner of the Candidates Tournament. The dress code regulations (6.5) also prohibit individual player sponsors from conflicting.

On August 30, PhosAgro was announced as a sponsor.[33] On September 12, EG Capital was announced as a sponsor, with Ilya Merenzon (CEO of Agon) suggesting that more sponsors would be announced three weeks before the match commenced.[63] Isklar was added as the official supplier of mineral water, but no other sponsors joined.[64]

Prize money

On September 12, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg confirmed that both players had signed contracts, and Merenzon noted that they would share in any superlative revenues generated by the event.[6] However, the base prize money would be close to the FIDE minimum of 1 million euros (Regulations 13.1), thus creating an incentive for them to popularize the match.[6] Point 3.2(b) of the FIDE-Agon agreement specifies a minimum 2 million euro prize fund, payable to FIDE 6 months in advance (thus May 11),[3] and in their original presentation at the 2015 FIDE Executive Board meeting Agon had asserted such a prize fund had been secured.[10]

Even a week before the event the exact prize fund was in dispute in the press, with the Financial Times saying 1.1 million euros,[65] while Chess.com was saying 1 million dollars.[96] According to the regulations, players are each paid 200,000 Euros before the match, in order to fund the work by their preparation teams, with the rest of the prize money paid within 10 days of completion of the match.[2]

Championship Match (players)

Head to head record

As of August 2016, Carlsen and Karjakin have played each other 21 times with Carlsen leading 4 wins to 1 with 16 draws. Their most recent encounter was at the July Bilbao double round robin tournament, where Carlsen won one game while the other was drawn.[97]

Lead up to match

After his victory in the Candidates Tournament 2016, Karjakin was scheduled to play in the Norway Chess event in April with a head-to-head game against Carlsen on tap, but cancelled his appearance, citing fatigue from the Candidates victory.[98] He then surprised Carlsen by agreeing to play in the double round-robin Bilbao tournament in July.[99] The games at the Bilbao tourmament were played at a slightly faster initial rate (40 moves in 90 minutes with no increment) than that used in the World Chess Championship (40 moves in 100 minutes with 30 seconds increment per move).[100] Carlsen defeated Karjakin in their first game in the Bilbao tournament,[101] while the second was drawn. He credited the faster time control in making it difficult for Karjakin to deal with pressure.[102] In the decisive game from Bilbao, Carlsen had White and played 1. e4, which Karjakin somewhat uncharacteristically (for recent times) replied to with a Sicilian Defense, and Carlsen avoided the main lines at move 3.[101]

Championship Match (events)

Opening Press Conference

The opening press conference was held on November 10. The FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was unable to attend in the end,[103] due to the United States Treasury sanctions, but communicated by Skype with instead vice president Gelfer the official FIDE representative (rather than deputy president Makropoulos). Agon's CEO Ilya Merenzon attended, and the two major sponsors (EG Capital and PhosAgro) had representatives, with both players and the chief arbiter rounding out the principals.[88] Merenzon would not say who would make the ceremonial first move (it turned out to be Woody Harrelson), but as in his previous Baku presentation, noted that this would happen every game, rather than just prior to the first game.

Schedule and Results

The games commence each day at 2pm local time in New York City.

World Chess Championship 2016
Rating Game 1
11 Nov.		 Game 2
12 Nov.		 Game 3
14 Nov.		 Game 4
15 Nov.		 Game 5
17 Nov.		 Game 6
18 Nov.		 Game 7
20 Nov.		 Game 8
21 Nov.		 Game 9
23 Nov.		 Game 10
24 Nov.		 Game 11
26 Nov.		 Game 12
28 Nov.		 Points
 Sergey Karjakin (Russia) 2772 ½ ½ 1
 Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 2853 ½ ½ 1

Games

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

The player named first played the white pieces.

Game 1: Carlsen-Karjakin ½-½

Carlsen-Karjakin, game 1
abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
g8 black king
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
e7 black bishop
f7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
e6 black pawn
f6 black pawn
c4 white rook
e3 white pawn
f3 white knight
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
g2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Position after 19. Rxc4

Carlsen drew White at the opening ceremony, and thus will have White in Games 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, and 12. He opened with 1. d4, and then chose to avoid Karjakin's likely Queen's Indian Defense (seen 4 times in the Candidates) by playing the Trompowsky Attack (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5), an uncommon opening at elite level though one which Carlsen has employed before.[104] He then made an early exchange of his bishop for the knight, to disrupt Karjakin's kingside pawn structure and ensure the resulting position would always have some imbalance. In the game here however, the action largely stayed beneath the surface, as on the queenside a typical pawn structure emerged with open c- and d-files, and after a number of early exchanges a rather dry and likely drawn endgame position was on the board at move 19. Carlsen played on until move 42, but there was really not much chance of anything but a draw.

Carlsen's opening choice dominated the post-game comments (in part due to jokes about the "Trump"owsky being played in regards to Donald Trump), to which he replied: If I had known how many questions I would get about the opening, I would've played something else.[87] Karjakin noted the media appeared more surprised about Carlsen's opening choice than he himself was, and indicated that perhaps move 27 was Carlsen's last chance to make something of the game: Maybe 27. f4 wasn't the best way, but you cannot say that White missed big chances.[87]

1.d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. Bb5 e6 7. c4 dxc4 8. Nd2 Bxc5 9. Ngf3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Rc1 Be7 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. Bxd7 Qxd7 14. Qc3 Qd5 15. Nxc4 Nxc4 16. Qxc4 Qxc4 17. Rxc4 Rfc8 18. Rfc1 Rxc4 19. Rxc4 Rd8 20. g3 Rd7 21. Kf1 f5 22. Ke2 Bf6 23. b3 Kf8 24. h3 h6 25. Ne1 Ke7 26. Nd3 Kd8 27. f4 h5 28. a4 Rd5 29. Nc5 b6 30. Na6 Be7 31. Nb8 a5 32. Nc6+ Ke8 33. Ne5 Bc5 34. Rc3 Ke7 35. Rd3 Rxd3 36. Kxd3 f6 37. Nc6+ Kd6 38. Nd4 Kd5 39. Nb5 Kc6 40. Nd4+ Kd6 41. Nb5+ Kd7 42. Nd4 Kd6 ½–½

Game 2: Karjakin-Carlsen ½-½

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. d4 Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Re8 13. Ra1 Nc4 14. Re1 Rc8 15. h3 h6 16. b3 Nb6 17. Bb2 Bf8 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. a4 c6 20. Qxd8 Rcxd8 21. axb5 axb5 22. Ne2 Bb4 23. Bc3 Bxc3 24. Nxc3 Nbd7 25. Ra6 Rc8 26. b4 Re6 27. Rb1 c5 28. Rxe6 fxe6 29. Nxb5 cxb4 30. Rxb4 Rxc2 31. Nd6 Rc1+ 32. Kh2 Rc2 33. Kg1 ½-½

References

  1. ^ a b "Top 100 Players". Ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 2016 Fide World Championship Match Regulations
  3. ^ a b c d FIDE-Agon agreement (3.1a) of Annex 11, 2012 FIDE General Assembly
  4. ^ a b WCC to be played at South Street Seaport (Wall Street Journal)
  5. ^ a b "The World Chess Championship comes to New York City!". World Chess Federation. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Carlsen-Karjakin to include virtual reality (Chess.Com, Mike Klein)
  7. ^ a b c d WCC 2016 to be in virtual reality (Agon)]
  8. ^ Rio Olympics VR (Engadget, Steve Dent)
  9. ^ a b Wrapping Up The World Championship by Mike Klein (Chess.Com)
  10. ^ a b c Report to the FIDE Executive Board by Ilya Merenzon, CEO of AGON Limited, Annex 54, FIDE 2015 Executive Board
  11. ^ a b "Chess-News interview with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov". 4 October 2015.
  12. ^ a b OFAC designates four individuals and six entities for Syrian support US Treasury press release
  13. ^ a b Statement from FIDE
  14. ^ FIDE and Agon sign historic media rights with NRK (FIDE press release)
  15. ^ a b Agon Launches Site (FIDE News)
  16. ^ Web archive of Feb 2016 version of regulations
  17. ^ a b Interview with Filatov (FIDE site)
  18. ^ a b Russian Sport interview
  19. ^ a b Statement regarding 2016 WCC (Agon)
  20. ^ a b NYC to host 2016 WCC by Jonathan Zalman, Wall Street Journal, 1 March 2016
  21. ^ Moves from Candidates Tournament exclusively shown by approved broadcast partners (Agon)
  22. ^ Worldchess.com Terms and Conditions (Candidates Tournament)
  23. ^ a b "VM-kampen kan bli flytta frå New York" NRK (Norwegian), Apr 19, "World championship match may be moved from New York"
  24. ^ "Carlsen – Karjakin WC match: FIDE/Agon confirms Trump Tower is an option" Matt og Patt (Tarjei Svensen, English translation by Jonathan Tisdall)
  25. ^ a b Agon statement regarding the venue for the World Championship Match in New York
  26. ^ a b Interview with Agon CEO Ilya Merenzon (FIDE)
  27. ^ a b ""VM-sjefen bekrefter: - Kampen spilles i New York. Vi har funnet arena" Dagbladet (Norwegian) article, June 7, "World Championship organizer confirms: - The match will take place in New York. We have found a venue"
  28. ^ a b Annex 60 (FIDE General Assembly 2016, Jorge Vega)
  29. ^ a b "VM-arrangørens nye utspill overrasker Carlsen-leiren: - Sa de det? Det er ukomfortabelt" Dagbladet (Norwegian) article, July 15, "World Championship organizer's new initiative surprises Carlsen camp: - Did they say that? It is uncomfortable
  30. ^ a b c d A historic site for the World Championship Match (Agon)
  31. ^ a b South Street Renaissance will appeal to more than tourists (NY Post, Aug 2 2016)
  32. ^ a b World Chess Championship Match (FIDE)
  33. ^ a b c PhosAgro Announces Sponsorship (Agon)
  34. ^ a b Ticketfly
  35. ^ a b c d e World Chess Broadcasts (Press Release, Agon)
  36. ^ a b c d Q&A on Broadcast Rights (WorldChess, owned by Agon)
  37. ^ Magnus Carlsen, Chess World Champion (Die Zeit, German)
  38. ^ US imposes sanctions against Ilyumzhinov for supporting Syria (Russian)
  39. ^ United States Levies Sanctions Against the President of FIDE (Agon)
  40. ^ BREAKING: Ilyumzhinov Steps Down Temporarily As FIDE President Peter Doggers, Chess.com
  41. ^ The new Agon worldchess website (The Chess Mind blog)
  42. ^ Kramnik: "The Sanctions Imposed on Ilyumzhinov Might Have Been Kasparov's Revenge" (Chess-News Russia)
  43. ^ Garry Kasparov: "Blaming Me for Ilyumzhinov's Corruption? This is Bizarre" (Chess-News Russia)
  44. ^ FIDE Code of Ethics
  45. ^ Ilyumzhinov denied boarding (Interfax, Russian)
  46. ^ US Treasury does not comment (Interfax, Russian)]
  47. ^ FIDE Audited Accounts Note #4 explains that while FIDE is the designated beneficiary of one account, in fact CCA uses it in practice.
  48. ^ Man vs Machine Chess: Nakamura-Komodo Game 4 (twitch video)
  49. ^ Tweet (David Llada)
  50. ^ Nigel Short (Tweet, Mar 28)
  51. ^ a b "Short: – Kan ikke se for meg VM-matchen i New York" Matt og Patt (Norwegian), Apr 12, "Nigel Short: - I cannot imagine the World Championship match in New York"
  52. ^ [1] Forum post by Andrew Murray-Watson
  53. ^ FIDE Agenda, General Assembly 2016]
  54. ^ "Carlsens russiske VM-motstander innrømmer: Vil helst flytte kampen til Moskva" Dagbladet interview with Karjakin (July 15), "Carlsen's Russian Championship opponent admits: anywhere would be better than the USA"
  55. ^ Sergey Karjakin at Chessgames.com
  56. ^ South Street Seaport Ghost Town (NY Daily News, Feb 2013)
  57. ^ New Look at Fulton Market New York YIMBY (June 2016)
  58. ^ Sit Quiet (Candidates Round 2 Report, Chess-News, in Russian)
  59. ^ a b Carlsen-Karjakin at South Street Seaport (Chess.com)
  60. ^ Confirmed: Prize Fund and location of Carlsen's match Dagbladet, Norwegian]
  61. ^ Carlsen-Karjakin venue announced (Chess24)
  62. ^ PhosAgro to Sponsor Carlsen-Karjakin (Chess.com, Peter Doggers)
  63. ^ a b The effect of presence (Chess-News, Russian)
  64. ^ a b WCC partners
  65. ^ a b Chess makes a move to become box office (Financial Times, UK)
  66. ^ a b Opening Ceremony (Chess.com)
  67. ^ a b World Chess Candidates Tournament (FIDE)
  68. ^ a b "Rules & regulations for the Candidates Tournament of the FIDE World Championship cycle 2014–2016" (PDF). FIDE. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  69. ^ March 2016 Rating List (FIDE)
  70. ^ An open letter on our new broadcast policy (Ilya Merenzon, CEO Agon)
  71. ^ FIDE News
  72. ^ Broadcast team taking shape (Agon)
  73. ^ Fall 2016 Newsletter (ChessGames)
  74. ^ a b c Chess24 win Moscow case
  75. ^ a b Agon response to First Circuit Court ruling
  76. ^ Whois Chess24
  77. ^ Chess24 Terms and Conditions #2.1
  78. ^ Chess24 Disclaimer (Company Information at right)
  79. ^ Chess World Lawsuit (Reuters)
  80. ^ World Chess US Inc vs Chessgames Services LLC (PACER)
  81. ^ Judge refuses to block chess websites showing moves (ABC News)
  82. ^ a b Chess World Lawsuit (Reuters)
  83. ^ Website admits copyright, hot news violations (Reuters)
  84. ^ Consent Judgment: Dow Jones vs Briefing.org (Citizen.org)
  85. ^ TheFlyonTheWall: A Judicial Paradox? (Robert LoBue, January 2012)
  86. ^ World Chess (Twitter)
  87. ^ a b c Round 1 report (Chess.com)
  88. ^ a b WCC Press Conference (chess24)
  89. ^ Karjakin (Chess24 Tweet)
  90. ^ 2016 Candidates Regulations (FIDE)
  91. ^ Round 11 (chess.com) report See for instance the Round 11 picture of Topalov shaking hands with Caruana, the latter wearing jeans; similarly with Giri against Nakamura.
  92. ^ Round 13 (chess.com) report Karjakin is wearing jeans while playing Aronian in the last picture of the Round 13 report.
  93. ^ Hou Yifan interview with Ian Rogers, 50 Moves magazine (Apr 2016)
  94. ^ WWCC Regulations (2016) (6.4)
  95. ^ Olympic Marketing Fact File 2016 (page 33): "The IOC does not accept commercial associations with tobacco products or alcoholic beverages other than beer and wine"
  96. ^ How to Follow Carlsen vs Karjakin on Chess.com (Chess.com)
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  98. ^ "Opprørt over Carlsens VM-motstander: - Det er respektløst" Dagbladet (Norwegian) article, April 7, "Outrage against Carlsen's championship opponent: - It is disrespectful" "Karjakin breaks Norway Chess contract"
  99. ^ "Carlsens VM-utfordrer med uventet trekk: - Jeg er litt overrasket" Dagbladet (Norwegian) article, June 7, "Carlsen's championship challenger makes an unexpected move: - I'm a little surprised"
  100. ^ Bilbao regulations #4. Compare regulation 3.5.1 of FIDE World Championship Match
  101. ^ a b Carlsen beats Karjakin (Chess.com)
  102. ^ "Carlsen etter ny knusende seier: – Spillet blir bedre dag for dag" Matt Og Patt (Norwegian), July 16, "Carlsen after crushing victory: every day I am playing better"
  103. ^ Russian Foreign Policy News
  104. ^ Carlsen vs Kramnik (Tal Memorial, 2013)

Notes

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