Groningen 1997 / Lausanne 1998

Adams

Gelfand

Resultado Final :

KARPOV   5 : 3    ANAND

The 1997 World Championship Cycle

                                                                            by   John Garrot

The 1997 World Championship Cycle was different from all previous cycles.  Instead of a 3 year series of tournaments and matches culminating in a 24 game match for the World's Chess Championship,a knockout tournament was held from December 8, 1997 to December 30, in Gronigen, The Netherlands.  The survivor then played the current World's Champion, Anatoly Karpov in a 6 game match for the championship.  This match was held January 1, 1998 to January 9, 1998 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

There were 98 players in the tournament, with 97 matches.  Players were seeded by rating, by position in previous championship cycles, etc.  68 players started in the 1st round, 28 more in the second, and another (Gelfand) in the 3rd.  Anatoly Karpov played only in the final match.

A condensed version of the tournament rules follows:

The matches, consisting of 2 (4 in round 7, and 6 in the championship) games, were played at the rate of 1 game per day, with time limits of 40/100,  20/50, and all remaining moves in 10 minutes.  30 seconds were added to the clock after each move, commencing from the first move.  No adjournments!

Should the match be tied, on the following day, a second match would be played, all game in 25 minutes for each player, with 10 seconds added to the clock after every move.  Should this second match be tied, in rounds 2 - 7, another match would be played, all game in 15 minutes for each player, again with 10 seconds added to the clock after every move.

If the score were still tied after the 2d match of round 1, or the 3rd match of rounds 2-7, then sudden death games, 4 minutes for White, 5 minutes for Black, 10 seconds added to the clock after each move, were played.  In case, of a draw, another game would be played. Should the arbiter feel that too much time was being taken, he (or she...) could require one sudden death game, 6 minutes for white, 5 for black, no added time.  In event of a draw, black advances to the next round.

Also, the players were required to keep their own score in the the first 2 game match each round.  If any other games were played that round, assistants kept the score, with the players having the right to consult the score sheet.

The prize fund for the tournament was $5 million.  The winner received $1,370,000.00 and the world championship.  The remaining players  received the following amounts depending on the round they were knocked out in:

Prizes were adjusted by two factors.

1) FIDE took a portion (tithe?) of the winnings.

2) If two players were tied after the 1st match of a round, then the eventual loser received 20% of the winners pay for the next round, if their match ended before the sudden death games, 40% if their match went into sudden death.

Some minor statistics follows:

• 331 games were played.

• White won 94, Black won 66, and 171 were drawn.

• There were 200 games played at the 1st time limit (40/100, etc), 80 games played at the 2nd speed control, 38 played at the 3rd, and 13 sudden death games.

Please send any additions, corrections, or praises to:

John Garrott

johnga@primenet.com

Direct any complaints or flames to: /dev/null

Agradecemos ao autor pela gentileza em permitir a reproducao deste interessante artigo.

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