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FIDE Changes Format for Next Championship Cycle

When Veselin Topalov won the FIDE World Championship with a commanding performance, most of the chess world agreed that the event had been a tremendous success - not just for Topalov, but for FIDE and the legitimacy of their title. Just a few days later, it seems that FIDE agrees, and wants a repeat of the success in San Luis.

FIDE announced this week that there would no longer be matches in the final rounds of the World Championship cycle, instead replacing them with a round-robin tournament in the same style as the one in which Topalov won his title. The eight invited players will consist of the top four from San Luis - Topalov, Vishwanathan Anand, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich - along with four new qualifiers. The qualifiers will come from a group of 16 players qualifying by rating and World Cup results. GM Rustam Kasimjanov, as the former FIDE Champion, will also be in this group. These 16 players will play matches to determine who moves on to the Championship tournament.

In announcing this new format, FIDE has made several major changes from their previously planned championship cycle. Along with eliminating the final matches, the "Last Chance Super Tournament" is also gone. This tournament was designed to give top rated players and second-tier finishers from the World Cup knockout tournament a chance to qualify for the candidate matches.

In addition, FIDE's new guidelines also make a perplexing reference to possible "interim World Championship matches." Although details are limited, it seems that any player with a rating of 2700 or higher could challenge the reigning champion, subject to FIDE's approval. How such a system would work is still unclear.

Predictably, there has been a range of strong reactions to FIDE's sudden change, with many players and fans expressing shock and anger.

"I would like to request all World Cup players and their respective chess federations to make a direct action against this latest change and write an official letter of protest to stop FIDE from implementing this latest change," said American GM Gata Kamsky, according to a report published by Chessbase.com. Kamsky, who once competed against Anatoly Karpov, expressed concerns about the rushed nature of the next cycle; players who wish to participate in the World Cup must sign contracts before October 31st, giving them only a few days to consider the new changes.

GM Alexei Shirov also had complaints about the new system, according to the same Chessbase.com report.

"Limiting the number of the title contenders to eight is too harsh," said Shirov, who nearly played Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1998. "I have always thought that the optimal number is sixteen."

We will continue to cover this story as it develops in the coming weeks. For more information, click on the following links:

FIDE's Updated World Championship Regulations
ChessBase.com's Report, with Comments from Kamsky and Shirov