Quality Chess will send a box of 20 books to your home, wherever in the world that may be. 10 of them chosen by you, 10 of them chosen by us. All you have to do is to predict some results in the World Cup. We will contact the winner once the World Cup is over and organize the shipment of the prize.
Hurdle Questions: In order for us to quickly reduce the number of emails to check, only participants who get the three initial questions right will proceed to the second round of scoring. The points scored here will count in the second round (unless otherwise stated, a correct answer is worth one point).
A: What will the most common opening move be in round 1 (excluding playoffs): 1.e4 or 1.d4 or neither?
B: Which of these home players will go further: Rauf Mamedov or Eltaj Safarli? (if knocked out at same stage then which one has played more moves is the tiebreak)
C: Which opening will be more common in round 3 (excluding playoffs)? Najdorf or Catalan or tie?
Main Competition Questions:
1. Who will win the World Cup (3 points)?
2. How many top seeds (1-64) will be knocked out in round 1?
3. How many round 2 matches will end in Armageddon Blitz?
4. Predict the four semi-finalists. (2 points per correct answer)
5. How many quarter finalists will be rated over 2730?
6. Which non-GM will go furthest? (total number of moves if all 13 are eliminated at the same stage)
7. Which round will Levon Aronian reach?
8. How many 1-1 draws will Michael Adams have?
9. How many Black wins will there be in round 4 (excluding playoffs)?
10. Predict the score: Radjabov – Sevian
11. Predict the score: Robson – Vovk
12. Predict the score: Fier – Granda Zuniga
13. How many Russians will there be in round 3?
14. Who will be the youngest quarter finalist?
15. How many non-European players will make it to the 4th round?
16. Which female player will go furthest?
17. How many Chinese players will lose in round 2?
18. How many players seeded 110-128 will be whitewashed in round 1 (2-0)?
How to enter: Send an email to WorldCup@qualitychess.co.uk at latest an hour before the start of round 1, on Friday 11th September 2015. The email must have the following information and no more(!):
Name and Rating – in the subject header of the email
Answers written like this:
A. answer
B. answer
C. answer
1. answer
2. answer
And so on. For names only give surnames.
Any attachments or any other diversion from the format leads to automatic exclusion.
Rules clarification: This is a fun, no-fee, friendly competition with the idea of enjoying the World Cup as a chess community. Quality Chess staff will pick the winner based on adherence with the process and with brutal fairness. Any mistake made in the process by a QC member of staff will be unintentional, yet all entry fees will be refunded if a mistake can be pointed out. There is no entry fee, of course…
If we get a feeling that the same person has entered more than once, we will ignore the person. The same goes for if we think someone is a relative of a chess player and not a chess player themselves. One player, one try.
If we work out an easy way to technically do so, we will add entries to the subscriber list for our newsletter. It is easy to unsubscribe, so fear not…
Wow, winner takes it all …
Is it one address, one participant or could my wife participate as well? She’s a chess player, in fact a former team mate of John Shaw, if I remember correctly.
@Phille
One participant. When we have a winner, we will see if they are a real chess player, or just disregard them.
I write here my answers?
When you ask for a match score prediction, is it classical games only or all the games including tie-breaks ?
@guest222
Classical
Question 15 may need some clarification. I have (at the moment) assumed the same countries adopted as “european” by UEFA in football.
@Matt
All players eligable to participate in European Individual Chess Championship
Last names of Chinese players – that’s the first name, right? So for Hou Yifan, we’d write Hou?
“if knocked out at the same stage, the one who has played more moves is the tiebreak”
does this include moves played in the first match? would it extend to playoffs in round one and two?
@Michael
No
This seems like a pure gamble to me, but I’ll probably try it, the participation fee is low enough 😉
What counts as a Catalan? 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Qc2 d5 8.Rd1 c6 – this is a closed Catalan, right?
@Gollum
Yes, of course
Haha, just entered. Not a chance of winning but will make it a bit more fun… Who’d have thought I’d be paying so much attention to the games of Vovk! 🙂
@Paul T
Fun is what this is about
I am unrated player but play Online on chess.com
so will i be disqualified for the reason i am unrated
Thanks for the idea ! I have just sent my answers. No rating, “unrated” in the mail header.
Great fun ahead 🙂
No. Please put the answers in an email to WorldCup@qualitychess.co.uk
Does someone have the pairings in an excel sheet and willing to share ?
Makes life much easier.
Thanks in advance
The pairings are on Wikipedia; I guess you could probably make an excel sheet out of them with some editing.
time to start dreaming which books to get. I already have
Polgar 1 + 2 + 3
Yusupov 1 boost
Yusupov 1 build
Marin A spanish rep
Marin Beating the open games
Tactimania
QC Puzzle book
Understanding chess tactics
Learn from the Legends
The secret life
Chess structures
San Luis 2005
and will choose…..
Gelfand
Petrosian
Karpov 1 + 2
Tal 1 + 2
Mating the castled
Dragon books 1 + 2
Positional chess sacrifices
cant wait 😉
@Lars Ekholm, did you study those books :).
I have aprox 30 QC books, and finished only one completly and two of them are in process of finishing :(.
@Rachit
Put in your online rating and handle. It is so we can check if you do really play chess and not are someone’s uncle 🙂
tried my luck, but I have nearly all QC books 🙂
is the email address correct? got my mail back 🙁
Since I have almost all QC books, I won’t participate 🙂
@k.r. A few i studied from start to end like tactics from scratch and the Yusupov books. Some I read from start to end but will keep comming back to actually study, like the Polgar trilogy and Marian Learn from the Legends. Some I browse for pleasure, San Luis, or I browse to find material for teaching (tactimania, Puzzle book, chess structures, secret life – but actually also the Polgar books have so many nice examples to use for teaching).
Hello, what does “at latest an hour before the start of round 1, on Friday 11th September 2015” means? Does it mean we have to send our answers exactly an hour before the start of round 1?
@Jacob Aagaard
ok i sent another mail with answer ( made no changes ) and my chess.com account game
http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1271602381
u can check this game and then click on rachit1 username
so now i will not be disqualified
And by mistake i posted above comment in wrong Post so plz delete that one
@Ray
That’s also my problem. But as I never win, I thought I could risk the entry fee.
@Jacob Should I send another e-mail to tell my online handle and online rating ? I have put “unrated” in the mail header. I swear i play chess 😉
@Pierre
We might inquire further if you win. It will be fine.
@Ray
You can always make a lot of new friends if you win 😉
@Jacob 🙂 I’m certainly never winning this contest, but it is great fun !
Yes, the email address is right. Please try sending again, or copy me in, and I’ll get it to the right place.
Can Quality Chess books be made available in India? With the price in rupees(INR)? Because converting dollars/euros to rupees makes it a hefty sum. I just keep visiting your site and not buy anything. Rs.500-1000 per book is manageable, but all foreign published books cost a few thousands. 🙁 I am yearning to buy Attacking manuals, Practical Chess Defense and Grandmaster Prep series.
@Panternn
Didn’t get any answer on this one, so assume I was correct. Have picked the Catalan 🙂
@Amey Sanjay Dandekar
We have been looking at Asian options for years, but so far nothing has come to fruition. We did have a dealer at some point, at reasonable prices, but as the rupee depreciated he became unwilling to raise his prices. And as the cut we got was really small, it went from close to pointless to straight down pointless.
But we will continue to look at serious options.
Now if only the players can make it on time for round one, what with the airlines problems.
@Amey Sanjay Dandekar
If you can get it down to 500-1000 Rupees, let the rest of us know as that would be $8-16. Even with shipping it would be cheaper for me to buy it from India and ship it to the US.
I have also entered the competition. Let the World Cup begin!
And if, in round two, we observe Safarli playing on a few dozen moves despite being a full Queen down, don’t look at me, okay? 😉
http://www.citadelchessworld.com/bookstore/
here is a bookstore but Alll QC books are out of stock . i would have bough every QC book Except opening if they have Stocks
@Ray
I also have a lot of them, but I’ve planned to donate most of them (if I win), to the public library in my town or to a local chess club. You can do the same 🙂
I entered, fingers crossed.
Does anyone really think a non-GM can go to round 2?
The seeding means that they face the tougest opponents right? So I’m guessing which of the top 13 is the most positional player and likely to take the longest to win.
I make it:
28 x e4
26 x d4
10 x other
In the first part of round 1… Could still be e4 or d4..
Drats! Seems like I underestimated the time shift from Baku. I sent my mail only half an hour before the round … 🙁
I guess I should start a totally unconnected discussion about the zero tolerance rule …
But I’ll wait for e4, Safarli and Najdorf before I get really mad at myself.
@Phille
The one hour was just to allow time for people to be a bit late… Don’t worry, you are in.
So is 1.e4 or 1.d4 winning ?
25 x e4
24 x d4
15 x other
So 1.e4 it is……
@Matt
Yus! First hurdle passed!
Mamedov already through to round 2 … 🙂
(Though Safarli can still go through)
Now let me see those Catalans in round 3!
First one passed, but Safarli in a dangerous position 🙂
Wow. What an anti-climax to be gone already over choosing 1 d4. Probably how the losers in round one feel!
… Safarli… what did you do…
Safarli out. So I just need the catalan to do its magic:
A. 1.e4
B. Mamedov.
C. Catalan.
Sad that Gelfand is out too 🙁
Oh my God, I have just seen this funny competition after one week without checking QC blog…. what a pity, although I would have answered 1.d4 and be out anyways
Hi GMs Shaw and Aagard… I learned a great deal from the Excelling at Chess series.
Will you guys please publish a GM rep NIMZO-INDIAN book? I will buy it if you do.
Thanks for considering this…
@Trispios
Sign up for the newsletter!
Thanks GM Aagard, I signed up for the newsletter. Are there any plans for a GM rep Nimzo Indian book?
No remember Fischer !, Remember Kasparov !You have a duty to play the Najdorf!!! @tamz29
C: Which opening will be more common in round 3 (excluding playoffs)? Najdorf or Catalan or tie?
So, Catalan by transposition is Catalan? (ie 1. c4 Cf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. d4) Najdorf that degenerates into Scheveningen is Najdorf (according to ECO this is a Scheveningen: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Qc7 8. f4 Nc6 but you can obviously play it via Najdorf, just transposing e6 and a6 moves).
The easier for everybody would be to define it as the ECO classification (hence if the variation escapes the Najdorf, bad luck, and if it enters the Catalan via Kramnik move order, then it is a Catalan), but I may be biased as I’ve voted for the Catalan, where is it easier to enter and harder to leave.
@Gollum
We go by common sense. As stated in the rules.
At the moment it seems like 2 Najdorf vs 1 catalan if you stretch it enough, so it seems I’m not going to get C right 🙁
Najdorf wins?
Cool we got a Ponziani and a Najdorf poisoned pawn today!
Today one Najdorf and one Catalan, so my only chance is that both games yesterday that went for the Najdorf get disqualified as Schevenningens and the Catalan hybrid is counted as Catalan… so yes, I did not make it :'(
I think we have all answers now except Question 1, 4 and 14
and What is the answer of
C: Which opening will be more common in round 3 (excluding playoffs)? Najdorf or Catalan or tie?