The Chess World Cup 2023 was a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 30 July to 24 August 2023. It was the 10th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner, runner-up and third-place finisher of the tournament (Magnus Carlsen, R Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana) earned the right to the play in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. In January 2024, Carlsen withdrew from the Candidates tournament, with the fourth-place finisher from the World Cup (Nijat Abasov) qualifying in his place. The tournament was held in parallel with the Women's Chess World Cup 2023.
The tournament was an eight-round knockout event, with the top 50 seeds having been given a bye directly into the second round. The losers of the two semi-finals played a match for third place.
The players who finished first, second, and third qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2024, a tournament to decide the challenger for the upcoming World Championship.
Each round consisted of classical time limit games on the first two days, plus tie-breaks on the third day if they were required. The time limits were as follows:
Two classical time limit games: 90 minutes, plus a 30-minute increment on move 40, plus a 30-second increment per move from move 41, per player.
If the match was tied after the classical games, players played two rapid chess games, with 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player.
If the match was tied, players played two more rapid chess games, with 10 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move, per player.
If the match was still tied, players played two blitz games, with five minutes plus a three-second increment per move, per player.
If the match was still tied, a single blitz game, with three minutes plus a two-second increment per move, was played to decide the match. A drawing of lots determined which player had white. If the game was drawn, the players switched colors and played again, and this process was repeated until a decisive result was obtained.
Schedule
Each round lasted three days: two for classical time control games and a third, if necessary, for tie-breaks. Rounds 1 to 3 ran from 30 July to 7 August; 8 August was a rest day; Rounds 4 to 6 ran from 9 to 17 August; 18 August was a rest day; and the last two rounds ran from 19 to 24 August.
Prize money
The total prize fund was US$1,834,000, with a first prize of US$110,000.
Prize money in US dollars
Ranking
Prizes
Total
Eliminated in Round 1
78 × 3,000
234,000
Eliminated in Round 2
64 × 6,000
384,000
Eliminated in Round 3
32 × 10,000
320,000
Eliminated in Round 4
16 × 16,000
256,000
Eliminated in Round 5
8 × 25,000
200,000
Eliminated in Round 6
4 × 35,000
140,000
4th place
1 × 50,000
50,000
3rd place
1 × 60,000
60,000
Runner-up
1 × 80,000
80,000
Winner
1 × 110,000
110,000
Total
1,834,000
Participants
The participants are seeded here by their FIDE rating of July 2023. All players are grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.
↑Ding Liren would have been seeded first as the World Champion, but he declined to play in the World Cup.
↑Players who appear inactive at least once in the 6 FIDE rating lists from January to June 2023 are not eligible.
↑Nakamura initially qualified by rating, but declined his invitation due to unspecified summer plans. He later received a nomination by the FIDE president after his summer plans were cancelled.
↑Hansen did not show up for his matches due to travel issues.
↑Yoo did not show up for his matches due to travel issues.
Magnus Carlsen
R Praggnanandhaa
Fabiano Caruana
