FIDE Grand Prix 2017

Last updated
FIDE Grand Prix Series 2017
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1, Candidates Tournament 2018.jpg
FIDE Grand Prix 2017 winner Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Tournament information
Sport Chess
Location Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Sharjah
Flag of Russia.svg Moscow
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Geneva
Flag of Spain.svg Palma de Mallorca
Dates18 February 2017–
25 November 2017
Administrator FIDE
Tournament
format(s)
Series of Swiss-system tournaments
Final positions
Champion Flag of Azerbaijan.svg Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Runner-up Flag of Russia.svg Alexander Grischuk

The FIDE Grand Prix 2017 was a series of four chess tournaments that formed part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2018. The top two finishers, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk, qualified to the 2018 Candidates Tournament.

Contents

Format

There were four tournaments in the cycle; each consisted of 18 players. 24 players were selected to compete in the tournaments, and each player competed in three of the four tournaments. [1]

In contrast to the previous editions where players played a full round-robin, each tournament was an 18 player, nine-round Swiss-system tournament. 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, as shown in the table below.

Players

The Grand Prix consisted of 24 players. Two players qualified to be among the 24 by being finalists in the World Chess Championship 2016 match; four players qualified by reaching the semifinals of the Chess World Cup 2015, eight players qualified based on their ratings; one player qualified by participation in the Association of Chess Professionals, and finally nine players rated at least 2700 (or 2600 for former men and women national or world champions) were nominated by Agon and FIDE. [2]

In an interview with Chessdom (Aug 2016), Zurab Azmaiparashvili (president of the European Chess Union) indicated various plusses and minuses with the new system, particularly that the nine "wild card" entries were less expensive than in previous versions. However, with few details available and many questions unanswered, he also was unsure of the professionality of Agon's approach. [3]

At the FIDE General Assembly in September, Agon presented Vladimir Kramnik as having Russia as a national sponsor, which if true would have been the first time that he participated in the FIDE Grand Prix. [4]

Any player who declined to participate in the Grand Prix was replaced by another player who was rated over 2700. Players who held an entry spot but did not enter the Grand Prix were: Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin from the World Chess Championship 2016, Fabiano Caruana, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Vladimir Kramnik, and Wesley So from the rating list. [5]

InviteeCountryQualifying method
Peter Svidler Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Chess World Cup 2015 runner-up
Pavel Eljanov Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine Chess World Cup 2015 semi-finalists
Anish Giri Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Hikaru Nakamura Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States FIDE rating list (from June 2015 to May 2016) [6]
Levon Aronian Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia
Ding Liren Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Flag of France.svg  France
Alexander Grischuk Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Li Chao Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Pentala Harikrishna Flag of India.svg  India
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan
Dmitry Jakovenko Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Boris Gelfand Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
Michael Adams Flag of England.svg  England
Evgeny Tomashevsky Flag of Russia.svg  Russia ACP Tour ranking
Teimour Radjabov Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan organiser's nominees
Ernesto Inarkiev Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Francisco Vallejo Pons Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Salem Saleh Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates
Hou Yifan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Jon Ludvig Hammer Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Ian Nepomniachtchi Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Alexander Riazantsev Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Richárd Rapport Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary

Prize money and Grand Prix points

The total prize money was €130,000 per single Grand Prix, or €520,000 for the total Grand Prix series. This money was allocated based on ranking in each individual tournament. [7]

Additionally, each player who could recruit a sponsor received €20,000.

PlaceSingle Grand Prix eventGrand Prix points
1€20,000170
2€15,000140
3€12,000110
4€11,00090
5€10,00080
6€9,00070
7€8,00060
8€7,00050
9€6,00040
10€5,00030
11€4,25020
12€4,00010
13€3,7508
14€3,5006
15€3,2504
16€3,0003
17€2,7502
18€2,5001

Tie breaks

With the objective of determining qualifiers to play in the Candidates Tournament 2018, and in the case that two or more players had equal cumulative points at the top, the following criteria were utilized to decide the overall Series winner and other overall placings: [7]

  1. Number of actual game result points scored in the three tournaments entered.
  2. Number of games played with black.
  3. Number of wins.
  4. Number of black wins.
  5. Drawing of lots.

Schedule

Originally the first event was to take place in October 2016, but it was moved to November 2017, with the other dates mostly the same. [8]

No.Host cityDateWinnersPoints (win/draw/loss)
1 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Sharjah 18–27 February 2017Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Grischuk  (RUS)
Flag of France.svg  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA)
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (AZE)
5½/9 (+2=7–0)
5½/9 (+2=7–0)
5½/9 (+3=5–1)
2 Flag of Russia.svg Moscow 12–21 May 2017Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Liren  (CHN)6/9 (+3=6–0)
3 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Geneva 6–15 July 2017Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Teimour Radjabov  (AZE)6/9 (+3=6-0)
4 Flag of Spain.svg Palma de Mallorca 16–25 November 2017Flag of Armenia.svg  Levon Aronian  (ARM)
Flag of Russia.svg  Dmitry Jakovenko  (RUS)
5½/9 (+2=7–0)
5½/9 (+2=7–0)

Originally the 3rd Grand Prix (now the 2nd) was to conflict with the World Team Chess Championship, but that event was moved to July where it instead conflicted with the Grand Chess Tour events and Norway Chess.

Broadcasting boycott

FIDE Grand Prix broadcasting rights belonged to Agon, which attempted to limit broadcasting of moves to its own website. In protest, chess24 refused to relay or mention the Grand Prix starting from Moscow 2017. [9]

Events crosstables

The notation in the crosstable is the number of the opponent, color of pieces, and score. For example, in the top-left hand corner of the Sharjah 2017 crosstable, 16w½ indicates that in round 1, Grischuk played player 16 (Jon Ludvig Hammer) with the white pieces, and the game ended in a draw. The player numbers do not exactly correspond to finishing position; for instance Grischuk, Vachier-Lagrave and Mamedyarov all finished equal first, but are allocated numbers 1, 2 and 3 for convenience of notation.

Sharjah 2017

1st stage, Sharjah, UAE, 18–27 February 2017 [10]
PlayerRating123456789TotalRCBlacksWinsBW TPR GP
1Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Grischuk  (RUS)274216w½6b½13w½8b½10w17b½5w½3w12b½+114202828140
2Flag of France.svg  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA)279611w19b13w½7b½13w½5b½6w½8b½1w½+44212824140
3Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (AZE)276612b½17w12b½5w17w½6b½8w½1b014w1+64302814140
4Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Liren  (CHN)27609w015b116w½6b½8w½14b½7w½11b½13w15-2421275170
5Flag of England.svg  Michael Adams  (ENG)275115w113b½10w½3b016w12w½1b½6b½7b½5+3520277970
6Flag of Russia.svg  Dmitry Jakovenko  (RUS)27097b½1w½14b½4w½18b13w½2b½5w½8w½5+9411278470
7Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)27856w½16b½9w12w½3b½1w½4b½13b½5w½5-1410278070
8Flag of Russia.svg  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (RUS)274914b½18w½12b½1w½4b½11w13b½2w½6b½5+2510276870
9Flag of Hungary.svg  Richárd Rapport  (HUN)26924b12w07b015w½17b½18w113w½14b½11w½+4421272625
10Flag of Ukraine.svg  Pavel Eljanov  (UKR)275918b½12w½5b½14w½1b017w½11b016b115w1-8521269325
11Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Li Chao  (CHN)27202b014w½18b½17w112b½8b010w14w½9b½+0520272225
12Flag of Spain.svg  Francisco Vallejo Pons  (ESP)27093w½10b½8w½16b½11w½13b½14w½15b½17w½+1400271425
13Flag of Armenia.svg  Levon Aronian  (ARM)278517b½5w½1b½18w½2b½12w½9b½7w½4b04-1150026927
14Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Hou Yifan  (CHN)26518w½11b½6w½10b½15b½4w½12b½9w½3b04+450026817
15Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  Salem Saleh  (UAE)26565b04w017b½9b½14w½16b½18w112w½10b0-451026243
16Flag of Norway.svg  Jon Ludvig Hammer  (NOR)26281b½7w½4b½12w½5b015w½17b½10w018b½+250026473
17Flag of Russia.svg  Evgeny Tomashevsky  (RUS)271113w½3b015w½11b09w½10b½16w½18b½12b½-1050026303
18Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Riazantsev  (RUS)267110w½8b½11w½13b½6w09b015b017w½16w½3-1040025871

Moscow 2017

2nd stage, Moscow, Russia, 12–21 May 2017 [11]
PlayerRating123456789TotalRCBlacksWinsBW TPR GP
1Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Liren  (CHN)27734b½18w13b15w½2b½8w½7b½9w½10b16+125322870170
2Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (AZE)277214w½10b½17w116b11w½4b½6w½5b½8w½+54212813140
3Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Hou Yifan  (CHN)265215b18w½1w07b½6w016b½13w114w½18b15+14432277071
4Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Teimour Radjabov  (AZE)27101w½7b½6w½14b15b½2w½8b½10w½12b½5+11511280071
5Flag of Russia.svg  Peter Svidler  (RUS)275511b½16w½12b11b½4w½6b½10w½2w½7b½5+2511277671
6Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Grischuk  (RUS)275016b½11w½4b½8w½3b15w½2b½7w½9b½5+3511277571
7Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)278618b½4w½11b½3w½9b½15w11w½6b½5w½5-1410277671
8Flag of France.svg  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA)279517w½3b½10w½6b½16w11b½4w½11b½2b½5-5510276071
9Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Anish Giri  (NED)278510w½17b½14w½13b½7w½11b½16w11b½6w½5-3410275971
10Flag of Israel.svg  Boris Gelfand  (ISR)27249b½2w½8b½11w½15b½12w15b½4b½1w0+4510275420
11Flag of Russia.svg  Evgeny Tomashevsky  (RUS)26965w½6b½7w½10b½13w½9w½12b½8w½17b½+6400274620
12Flag of India.svg  Pentala Harikrishna  (IND)275013w½14b½5w018b½17w110b011w½15b14w½-4421271620
13Flag of Norway.svg  Jon Ludvig Hammer  (NOR)262112b½15w018b19w½11b½14w½3b017w½16b½4+751126747
14Flag of Spain.svg  Francisco Vallejo Pons  (ESP)27102b½12w½9b½4w018w½13b½17w½3b½15w½4-340026817
15Flag of Russia.svg  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (RUS)27513w013b116w017b110w½7b018b½12w014b½-1652226263
16Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  Salem Saleh  (UAE)26336w½5b½15b12w08b03w½9b018w½13w½+241126543
17Flag of England.svg  Michael Adams  (ENG)27478b½9w½2b015w012b018w114b½13b½11w½-1251026543
18Flag of Russia.svg  Ernesto Inarkiev  (RUS)27277w½1b013w012w½14b½17b015w½16b½3w0-2240025481

Geneva 2017

3rd stage, Geneva, Switzerland, 6–15 July 2017 [12]
PlayerRating123456789TotalRCBlacksWinsBW TPR GP
1Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Teimour Radjabov  (AZE)27245b111w112b½4w½10b½3b½9w16w½2b½6+185312877170
2Flag of Russia.svg  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (RUS)274216b½14w½11b017w14b½15w110b½12w11w½+94302814125
3Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Grischuk  (RUS)276115b½16w17b½12w½11b11w½4b½10w½5b½+85212827125
4Flag of India.svg  Pentala Harikrishna  (IND)27376b17w½10w½1b½2w½12b13w½8b013w½5+6422278360
5Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Anish Giri  (NED)27751w018b18w½14b½6w½13b½12w½17b13w½5-3422275660
6Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Riazantsev  (RUS)26544w017b½18w½15w½5b½16b18w11b½7w½5+12421275560
7Flag of England.svg  Michael Adams  (ENG)273618w14b½3w½9b08w½14b½13w½16b16b½5+2521275460
8Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Li Chao  (CHN)273512b½9w½5b½13w½7b½11w16b04w110b½5+6520278860
9Flag of Russia.svg  Peter Svidler  (RUS)274913w½8b½14w½7w112b½10w½1b018b½17w15+2520277060
10Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (AZE)280014b½15w14b½11w½1w½9b½2w½3b½8w½5-3410277960
11Flag of Ukraine.svg  Pavel Eljanov  (UKR)273917w11b02w110b½3w08b018w114b½16w½-2430272111
12Flag of Armenia.svg  Levon Aronian  (ARM)28098w½13b11w½3b½9w½4w05b½2b018w1-10421272911
13Flag of Russia.svg  Dmitry Jakovenko  (RUS)27039b½12w016b18b½14w½5w½7b½15w½4b½+5511274111
14Flag of Israel.svg  Boris Gelfand  (ISR)272810w½2b½9b½5w½13b½7w½17b½11w½15b½+1500273511
15Flag of Russia.svg  Ernesto Inarkiev  (RUS)27073w½10b017w½6b½18w12b016w½13b½14w½4-541026674
16Flag of Hungary.svg  Richárd Rapport  (HUN)26942w½3b013w018b017b16w015b½7w011b½-1951125392
17Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Hou Yifan  (CHN)266611b06w½15b½2b016w018b114w½5w09b0-1441125482
18Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  Salem Saleh  (UAE)26387b05w06b½16w115b017w011b09w½12b02-1451025051

Palma 2017

Going into the final tournament, only Radjabov and Vachier-Lagrave could overtake Mamedyarov or Grischuk to qualify for the Candidates. (Ding Liren could also finish first or second in the Grand Prix, but had already qualified via the World Cup). Going into the final round of that tournament, both Radjabov and Vachier-Lagrave were equal 2nd-10th, and both would have qualified for the Candidates with a final round win, but neither was able to.

4th stage, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 16–27 November 2017 [13]
PlayerRating123456789TotalRCBlacksWinsBW TPR GP
1Flag of Armenia.svg  Levon Aronian  (ARM)28012b½12w110b½13w14b½5w½9b½8w½3b½+35202821155
2Flag of Russia.svg  Dmitry Jakovenko  (RUS)27211w½3b½16w½11b15w½13b½7w½9b½10b1+135222823155
3Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)278011b½2w½8b½6w110b½4w½5b½7w½1w½5+1410279271
4Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Liren  (CHN)277415w½16b½11w½12b11w½3b½13w½5b½8b½5-1511277171
5Flag of Russia.svg  Peter Svidler  (RUS)27638b½11w½18b110w½2b½1b½3w½4w½7b½5+2511278271
6Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Teimour Radjabov  (AZE)274116w½15b113w½3b07w½8b014w117b19w½5+3432276471
7Flag of India.svg  Pentala Harikrishna  (IND)273818b½8w½12b½15w16b½10w½2b½3b½5w½5+3510276771
8Flag of Russia.svg  Evgeny Tomashevsky  (RUS)27025w½7b½3w½16b½9w½6w110b½1b½4w½5+11410279171
9Flag of Hungary.svg  Richárd Rapport  (HUN)269213b017b½14w½18w18b½16b11w½2w½6b½5+8521276271
10Flag of France.svg  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA)279617w113b½1w½5b½3w½7b½8w½12b½2w0-7410274120
11Flag of Ukraine.svg  Pavel Eljanov  (UKR)27073w½5b½4b½2w012w½14b½18w115b½17w½+2410272420
12Flag of Russia.svg  Ernesto Inarkiev  (RUS)268314w11b07w½4w011b½17b115w½10w½18b½+6421273420
13Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Anish Giri  (NED)27629w110w½6b½1b016w½2w½4b½14b015w½4-841026936
14Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Li Chao  (CHN)274112b018w½9b½17w½15b½11w½6b013w116b½4-1051026566
15Flag of Spain.svg  Francisco Vallejo Pons  (ESP)27054b½6w017w17b014w½18b½12b½11w½13b½4-351026796
16Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Riazantsev  (RUS)26516b½4w½2b½8w½13b½9w017w018b½14w½-240026403
17Flag of Israel.svg  Boris Gelfand  (ISR)271910b09w½15b014b½18w½12w016b16w011b½3-1751125801
18Flag of Norway.svg  Jon Ludvig Hammer  (NOR)26297w½14b½5w09b017b½15w½11b016w½12w½3-540025861

Grand Prix standings

Grand Prix points in bold indicate a tournament win. Green indicates qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament 2018. Mamedyarov and Grischuk qualified via the Grand Prix. Ding Liren and Aronian qualified via the Chess World Cup 2017.

Player FIDE rating
February 2017
SharjahMoscowGenevaPalmaTotal
1Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (AZE)276614014060340
2Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Grischuk  (RUS)274214071125336
3Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Teimour Radjabov  (AZE)27107117071312
4Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Liren  (CHN)27607017071311
5Flag of Russia.svg  Dmitry Jakovenko  (RUS)27097011155236
6Flag of France.svg  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA)27961407120231
7Flag of the United States.svg  Hikaru Nakamura  (USA)2785707171212
8Flag of Russia.svg  Peter Svidler  (RUS)2748716071202
9Flag of Russia.svg  Ian Nepomniachtchi  (RUS)2749703125198
10Flag of Armenia.svg  Levon Aronian  (ARM)2785711155173
11Flag of India.svg  Pentala Harikrishna  (IND)2758206071151
12Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Anish Giri  (NED)276971606137
13Flag of England.svg  Michael Adams  (ENG)275170360133
14Flag of Hungary.svg  Richárd Rapport  (HUN)26922527198
15Flag of Russia.svg  Evgeny Tomashevsky  (RUS)27113207194
16Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Li Chao  (CHN)27202560691
17Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Hou Yifan  (CHN)2651771280
18Flag of Russia.svg  Alexander Riazantsev  (RUS)2671160364
19Flag of Ukraine.svg  Pavel Eljanov  (UKR)275925112056
20Flag of Spain.svg  Francisco Vallejo Pons  (ESP)2709257638
21Flag of Israel.svg  Boris Gelfand  (ISR)27202011132
22Flag of Russia.svg  Ernesto Inarkiev  (RUS)2723142025
23Flag of Norway.svg  Jon Ludvig Hammer  (NOR)262837111
24Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  Salem Saleh  (UAE)26563317

References

  1. "FIDE Grand Prix Announcement". FIDE. 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. "FIDE Grand-Prix 2016-2017 Announcement". FIDE. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  3. "Zurab Azmaiparashvili: ECU becomes independent, strong, leads fight against corruption". Chessdom. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  4. "FIDE and Agon: The Match and the Next Cycle" (PDF). fide.com. FIDE. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  5. "FIDE Grand-Prix 2017 announcement". FIDE. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  6. McGourty, Colin (6 February 2017). "FIDE Grand Prix line-up announced". chess24. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Regulations for the Grand Prix" (PDF). FIDE. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  8. "Dates and venues for the 2017 Grand Prix events confirmed". Agon. 26 November 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  9. Doggers, Peter (13 May 2017). "Hou Yifan Sole Winner In Moscow GP Round 1". Chess.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  10. "FIDE Grand Prix Series. Sharjah 2017". s1.chess-results.com. Chess-Results.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  11. "FIDE Grand Prix Series. Moscow 2017". s3.chess-results.com. Chess-Results.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  12. "FIDE Grand Prix Series 2017". s2.chess-results.com. Chess-Results.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  13. "FIDE Grand Prix Series. Palma 2017". s1.chess-results.com. Chess-Results.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  14. Doggers, Peter (17 February 2017). "FIDE Grand Prix Starts New World Champs Cycle". Chess.com. Retrieved 12 August 2025.