FIDE Grand Prix 2012–13


The FIDE Grand Prix 2012–13 was a series of six chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2014. Veselin Topalov finished first, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov second in the overall standings. Both therefore qualified for the 2014 Candidates Tournament.

Format

Eighteen top players were selected to compete in these tournaments. Each player agrees and will contract to participate in four of these tournaments.
Each tournament is a 12-player, single round-robin tournament. This is a change to the 14 player tournaments last cycle. 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.
Only the three best tournament results of each player are counted. The player with the most Grand Prix points is the winner.

Players and qualification

The three highest ranked players on the FIDE rating list chose not to enter the Grand Prix. Those are world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, 2008–2010 Grand Prix winner Levon Aronian and ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik. World Champion Viswanathan Anand also declined participation. There were several ways to qualify for the Grand Prix series:
PlayerCountryQualifying method
Boris GelfandWorld Chess Championship 2012
Peter SvidlerChess World Cup 2011
Alexander GrischukChess World Cup 2011
Vassily IvanchukChess World Cup 2011
Ruslan PonomariovChess World Cup 2011
Teimour RadjabovFIDE rating list
Sergey KarjakinFIDE rating list
Hikaru NakamuraFIDE rating list
Veselin TopalovFIDE rating list
Shakhriyar MamedyarovFIDE rating list
Vugar GashimovFIDE rating list
Fabiano CaruanaFIDE President nominee
Alexander MorozevichAGON nominees
Wang HaoAGON nominees
Peter LekoAGON nominees
Leinier DomínguezAGON nominees
Anish GiriAGON nominees
Rustam KasimdzhanovAGON nominees
Michael AdamsReplacements by rating
Gata KamskyReplacements by rating
Étienne BacrotReplacements by rating
Wang YueReplacements by rating
Evgeny TomashevskyReplacements by rating
Laurent FressinetReplacements by rating

Prize money and Grand Prix points

The prize money is €170,000 per single Grand Prix and €420,000 for the overall Grand Prix finishes.
PlaceSingle Grand Prix eventOverall standingsGrand Prix points
1€25,000€100,000170
2€22,500€80,000140
3€20,000€60,000110
4€17,500€50,00090
5€15,000€40,00080
6€13,000€30,00070
7€12,000€25,00060
8€11,000€20,00050
9€10,000€15,00040
10€9,00030
11€8,00020
12€7,00010

Tie breaks

With the objective of determining qualifiers to play in the Candidates 2014, 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. Ranking points of the fourth result not already taken in the top three ranking results.
  2. Number of actual game result points scored in the best three tournaments.
  3. Game points of the fourth result not already taken in the top three results.
  4. Number of wins.
  5. Drawing of lots.

    Schedule

The six tournaments were:
No.Host cityDateWinnersPoints
1London, England21 September – 3 October 2012

7/11
7/11
7/11
2Tashkent, Uzbekistan22 November – 4 December 2012

6½/11
6½/11
6½/11
3Zug, Switzerland18–30 April 20138/11
4Thessaloniki, Greece22 May – 3 June 20138/11
5Beijing, China4–16 July 20137/11
6Paris, France22 September4 October 2013

7/11
7/11

The third stage of the Grand Prix was initially to be held in Lisbon, Portugal.
The fourth stage of the Grand Prix was initially to be held in Madrid, Spain.
The fifth stage of the Grand Prix was initially to be held in Berlin, Germany.

Events crosstables

London 2012

Tashkent 2012

Zug 2013

Thessaloniki 2013

Beijing 2013

Paris 2013

Grand Prix standings

Grand Prix points in bold indicate a tournament win. A number in brackets is a player's worst result of four and doesn't add to the total.
Veselin Topalov finished first, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was second in the overall standings. Thus, they qualified for the 2014 Candidates Tournament.
Karjakin and Svidler qualified for the Candidates by other paths, so are shown in light green.
PlayerFIDE rating
Aug 2012
LondonTashkentZugThessalonikiBeijingParisPlayedBest 3
127521401701004410
22729140801704390
327731001251554380
42738140301554325
5276390851404315
62778140601004300
7277014075654280
8272535170754280
9278514050653255
10272670140454255
11273450100854235
12273780501004230
13274610751254210
1426843580704185
1527695530454130
1627111550654130
172713251002125
1827495045295
19268565165
20272255155
21273045145
22278820120
22271420120