The Candidates Tournament 2016 was an eight-player double round-robin chess tournament, held in Moscow, Russia, from 11 to 30 March 2016. The winner, Sergey Karjakin, earned the right to challenge the defending world champion, Magnus Carlsen, in the World Chess Championship 2016. The result was decided in the final round when Karjakin defeated runner-up Fabiano Caruana.
Organization The tournament was contested as a double round-robin with each player playing 14 games. Four rest days took place after rounds 3, 6, 9, and 12. The winner of the tournament would be the challenger of Magnus Carlsen at the 2016 World Chess Championship. At the DI Central Telegraph Building, Agon had designed and built a 20000 square-foot space near the Kremlin to woo more spectators to the sport, with 99% of the focus on online viewership.NYC to host 2016 WCC by Jonathan Zalman, Wall Street Journal, 1 March 2016 As the official organizer, they owned live moves and video broadcasting rights. Legal actions were commenced against sites who violated live broadcasting restrictions on games and moves.
The prize fund (Regulations 3.8.1) was 420,000 euros, with 95,000 to the winner, 88,000 to 2nd place, 75,000 to 3rd, 55,000 to 4th, 40,000 to 5th, 28,000 to 6th, 22,000 to 7th, and 17,000 to 8th. Prize money would be divided equally between players on the same score.
FIDE's commercial partner Agon was the official organizer,FIDE-Agon agreement (3.1a) of Annex 11, 2012 FIDE General Assembly with support from the Russian Chess Federation. The main sponsor was the Tashir Group, a Russian real estate company headed by Armenian-born businessman Samvel Karapetyan.
The FIDE supervisor was Zurab Azmaiparashvili and the chief arbiter was Werner Stubenvoll from Austria.
Qualifiers
There were five different qualification paths to the Candidates Tournament. In order of priority, these were: the 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, the 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 the Chess World Cup 2015 or FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, and one player nominated by the organizers (Agon). Qualification path Player Age Rating World Ranking 2014 World Championship runner-up Viswanathan Anand46276212The top two finishers in the Chess World Cup 2015 Sergey Karjakin26276013 Peter Svidler39275716The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 Fabiano Caruana2327943 Hikaru Nakamura2827906The top two players with highest average 2015 rating who played in the World Cup or Grand Prix Veselin Topalov4127808 Anish Giri2127934 Wild card nomination of the organizers (Agon), with a FIDE rating of at least 2725 in July 2015 Levon Aronian3327867
FIDE gave the qualifiers until 11 January to decide upon participation and sign the contract, and all accepted even though Veselin Topalov was open in his dislike of Moscow as a location. Topalov did not attend the opening ceremony, leaving himself open to a forfeiture of 5% of his prize money to each of FIDE and the organizers, by 3.11.2 of the Regulations.
The ratings and rankings in the table are taken from the March 2016 FIDE list. They are provided for information purposes only, and were not used for seeding. Notable players who did not qualify include Vladimir Kramnik, a former World Champion and the world number 2 as of March 2016, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the world number 5. The age column is in years as of 15 March 2016. FIDE used a country-diversion system, so that Svidler and Karjakin, similarly Nakamura and Caruana, were paired together in rounds 1 and 8, to avoid conflicts in late rounds, as seen in the pairings.
Qualifiers by rating
The following were the final placings of players attempting to qualify by the 2015 rating lists.FIDE Top 100 lists for 2015: January , February, March , April, May , June , July , August , September , October, November , December
The list omits world champion Magnus Carlsen. Players who qualified for the Candidates Tournament by other means are shown with a shaded background. The two qualifiers by rating were Topalov and Giri (marked with a green background).
PlayerJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAverage Veselin Topalov 2800 2800 2798 2798 2798 2798 2816 2816 2816 2813 2803 2803 2804.92 Viswanathan Anand 2797 2797 2791 2791 2804 2804 2816 2816 2816 2803 2803 2796 2802.83 Fabiano Caruana 2820 2811 2802 2802 2803 2805 2797 2808 2808 2796 2787 2787 2802.17 Hikaru Nakamura 2776 2776 2798 2798 2799 2802 2814 2814 2814 2816 2793 2793 2799.42 Anish Giri 2784 2797 2790 2790 2776 2773 2791 2793 2793 2798 2778 2784 2787.25 Vladimir Kramnik 2783 2783 2783 2783 2777 2783 2783 2777 2777 2777 2796 2796 2783.17 Alexander Grischuk 2810 2810 2794 2794 2780 2781 2771 2771 2771 2774 2750 2747 2779.42 Levon Aronian 2797 2777 2770 2770 2776 2780 2765 2765 2765 2784 2781 2788 2776.50
Schedule
DateDayEvent10 MarchThursdayOpening ceremony11 MarchFridayRound 112 MarchSaturdayRound 213 MarchSundayRound 314 MarchMondayFree day15 MarchTuesdayRound 416 MarchWednesdayRound 517 MarchThursdayRound 618 MarchFridayFree day19 MarchSaturdayRound 7
DateDayEvent20 MarchSundayRound 821 MarchMondayRound 922 MarchTuesdayFree day23 MarchWednesdayRound 1024 MarchThursdayRound 1125 MarchFridayRound 1226 MarchSaturdayFree day27 MarchSundayRound 1328 MarchMondayRound 1429 MarchTuesdayClosing ceremony
Standings
Notes Tie-breaks are in order: 1) head-to-head score among tied players, 2) total number of wins, 3) Sonneborn–Berger score (SB), 4) tie-break games.
Results by round Pairings and results Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%" |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 1 – 11 March 2016 |- | Viswanathan Anand || Veselin Topalov ||align=center width="30px"| 1–0 || C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- | Anish Giri || Levon Aronian ||align=center | ½–½ || D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |- | Sergey Karjakin || Peter Svidler ||align=center | ½–½ || D16 Slav Defence, Soultanbéieff Variation |- | Hikaru Nakamura || Fabiano Caruana ||align=center | ½–½ || A30 English Opening, Symmetrical Variation |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 2 – 12 March 2016 |- | Levon Aronian (½) || Viswanathan Anand (1) ||align=center | ½–½ || D37 Queen's Gambit Declined |- | Fabiano Caruana (½) || Anish Giri (½) ||align=center | ½–½ || B32 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- | Sergey Karjakin (½) || Hikaru Nakamura (½) ||align=center | 1–0 || E15 Queen's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line |- | Peter Svidler (½) || Veselin Topalov (0) ||align=center | ½–½ || C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 3 – 13 March 2016 |- | Viswanathan Anand (1½) || Fabiano Caruana (1) ||align=center | ½–½ || C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- | Anish Giri (1) || Sergey Karjakin (1½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E15 Queen's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line |- | Hikaru Nakamura (½) || Peter Svidler (1) ||align=center | ½–½ || D16 Slav Defence, Soultanbéieff Variation |- | Veselin Topalov (½) || Levon Aronian (1) ||align=center | 0–1 || A29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 4 – 15 March 2016 |- | Fabiano Caruana (1½) || Veselin Topalov (½) ||align=center | ½–½ || C50 Giuoco Piano |- | Sergey Karjakin (2) || Viswanathan Anand (2) ||align=center | 1–0 || A06 Réti Opening |- | Hikaru Nakamura (1) || Anish Giri (1½) ||align=center | ½–½ || D45 Semi-Slav, Stoltz Variation |- | Peter Svidler (1½) || Levon Aronian (2) ||align=center | ½–½ || A22 English, Four Knights, Smyslov System |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 5 – 16 March 2016 |- | Viswanathan Anand (2) || Hikaru Nakamura (1½) ||align=center | ½–½ || C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- | Levon Aronian (2½) || Fabiano Caruana (2) ||align=center | ½–½ || A77 Benoni Defence, Classical, Czerniak Defence, Tal Line |- | Anish Giri (2) || Peter Svidler (2) ||align=center | ½–½ || D73 Neo-Grünfeld Defence |- | Veselin Topalov (1) || Sergey Karjakin (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || E15 Queen's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 6 – 17 March 2016 |- | || Peter Svidler (2½) ||align=center | 1–0 || C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Anti-Marshall 8.a4 |- | Veselin Topalov (1½) || Anish Giri (2½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E61 Indian Game, West Indian Defence |- | Levon Aronian (3) || Hikaru Nakamura (2) ||align=center | 1–0 || E15 Queen's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Nimzowistch Variation |- | Fabiano Caruana (2½) || Sergey Karjakin (3½) ||align=center | ½–½ || E15 Queen's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 7 – 19 March 2016 |- | Peter Svidler (2½) || Fabiano Caruana (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || A35 English, Symmetrical, Four Knights |- | Sergey Karjakin (4) || Levon Aronian (4) ||align=center | ½–½ || A08 King's Indian Attack |- | Hikaru Nakamura (2) || Veselin Topalov (2) ||align=center | 1–0 || D12 Slav Defence, Quiet Variation, Schallop Defence |- | Anish Giri (3) || ||align=center | ½–½ || D37 Queen's Gambit Declined, Barmen Variation
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%" |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 8 – 20 March 2016 |- | Peter Svidler (3) || Sergey Karjakin (4½) ||align=center width="30px" | ½–½ || A29 English, Four Knights, Fianchetto Line |- | Fabiano Caruana (3½) || Hikaru Nakamura (3) ||align=center | 1–0 || C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- | Levon Aronian (4½) || Anish Giri (3½) ||align=center | ½–½ || D43 Semi-Slav Defense |- | Veselin Topalov (2) || Viswanathan Anand (4) ||align=center | ½–½ || A11 Queen's Gambit Declined, Barmen Variation |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 9 – 21 March 2016 |- | Veselin Topalov (2½) || Peter Svidler (3½) ||align=center | ½–½ || C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Anti-Marshall 8.a4 |- | Viswanathan Anand (4½) || Levon Aronian (5) ||align=center | 1–0 || C50 Giuoco Piano |- | Anish Giri (4) || Fabiano Caruana (4½) ||align=center | ½–½ || D70 Neo-Grünfeld Defence, Goglidze Attack |- | Hikaru Nakamura (3) || Sergey Karjakin (5) ||align=center | ½–½ || E15 Queen's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation, Check Variation, Intermezzo Line |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 10 – 23 March 2016 |- | Peter Svidler (4) || Hikaru Nakamura (3½) ||align=center | ½–½ || A29 English, Four Knights, Fianchetto Line |- | Sergey Karjakin (5½) || Anish Giri (4½) ||align=center | ½–½ || D45f Semi-Slav, Stoltz Variation |- | Fabiano Caruana (5) || Viswanathan Anand (5½) ||align=center | 1–0 || A29 English, Four Knights, Fianchetto Line |- | Levon Aronian (5) || Veselin Topalov (3) ||align=center | ½–½ || A29 English, Four Knights, Fianchetto Line |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 11 – 24 March 2016 |- | Levon Aronian (5½) || Peter Svidler (4½) ||align=center | 0–1 || D16 Slav Defence, Soultanbéieff Variation |- | Veselin Topalov (3½) || Fabiano Caruana (6) ||align=center | ½–½ || A33 English, Symmetrical, Anti-Benoni |- | Viswanathan Anand (5½) || Sergey Karjakin (6) ||align=center | 1–0 || A07 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence |- | Anish Giri (5) || Hikaru Nakamura (4) ||align=center | ½–½ || C50 Giuoco Piano |- |colspan=4 style="background:#cccccc;" | Round 12 – 25 March 2016 |- | Peter Svidler (5½) || Anish Giri (5½) ||align=center | ½–½ || A29 English, Four Knights, Fianchetto Line |- | Hikaru Nakamura (4½) || ||align=center | 1–0 || A29 English, Four Knights, Fianchetto Line |- | Sergey Karjakin (6) || Veselin Topalov (4) ||align=center | 1–0 || B90 Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, Adams Attack |-