Berlin, January 21, 2022 — In just two weeks, Berlin will host the first round of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022, organized by World Chess. From February 3 to 17 sixteen elite chess players, including Grandmaster Harikrishna, who replaced the drop-out Wei Yi, will compete for the chance to win the last two spots in the Candidates tournament to be held later this year as well as for a EUR 150,000 prize fund. 

The drawing of lots ceremony determined the pools for the first leg of the Series. The ceremony, held over Zoom, was chaired by the Chief Arbiter Ivan Syrovy and CEO of World Chess Ilya Merenzon, and attended by the Grand Prix participants. 

Before the drawing, the players were divided into four baskets according to January standard rating: 

Basket 1: 

1. Ding Liren (China), 2799
2. Levon Aronian (USA), 2772
3. Wesley So (USA), 2772
4. Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764 

Basket 2: 

1. Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763
2. Leinier Dominguez (USA), 2752
3. Hikaru Nakamura, (USA), 2736
4. Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727 

Basket 3: 

1. Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724
2. Daniil Dubov (Russia), 2720
3. Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2717
4. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704

Basket 4:

1.Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704
2. Grigoriy Oparin (Russia), 2681
3. Vincent Keymer (Germany), 2664
4. Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642

Chief Arbiter allocated the players to four different groups via a randomized selection procedure. The group stage promises exciting games, with the pairings to be determined at the opening ceremony:

Pool A: 

1. Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764
2. Hikaru Nakamura, (USA), 2736 
3. Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724 
4. Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642 

Pool B: 

1. Ding Liren (China), 2799
2. Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763 
3. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704 
4. Grigoriy Oparin (Russia), 2681 

Pool C:

1. Levon Aronian (USA), 2772 
2. Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727 
3. Daniil Dubov (Russia), 2720 
4. Vincent Keymer (Germany), 2664 

Pool D:

1. Wesley So (USA), 2772 
2. Leinier Dominguez (USA), 2752 
3. Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2717
4. Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704 

The first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will take place in the city center at Unter den Linden 26-30 from February 4 to 17. The rounds start at 3 PM Berlin time.

The games will be broadcast live at worldchess.com:
https://chessarena.com/broadcasts/13604. 

For further questions, please contact media@worldchess.com. 

Official Photo FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Press kit:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ggyqowtp6odrqcg/AADc5Kkk34nd2q8CMQlqnRTsa?dl=0

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About FIDE Grand Prix 2022: 

The competition consists of three legs that span over three months and two cities:

First leg: February 3 — 17, Berlin, Germany
Second leg: February 28 — March 14, Belgrade, Serbia
Third leg: March 21 — April 4, Berlin, Germany

The FIDE Grand Prix will feature 24 players, with each player competing in two out of three events.

Each 16-player event will consist of a group stage followed by a knockout semi-final and final. At the group stage, the participants will compete in four double-round-robin tournaments, with only the winners of each pool advancing. Both the semi-finals and final will consist of 2 regular time limit games, plus tiebreaks if needed.

Players receive Grand Prix points according to their finishing position in each tournament:

Round	Grand Prix points
Winner	13
Runner-Up	10
Semi-final loser	7
2nd in pool	4
3rd in pool	2
4th in pool	0

Two winners of the Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will take place later in 2022.

Allocations

	Leg 1 - Berlin	Leg 2 - Belgrade	Leg 3 - Berlin
1	Ding Liren	Ding Liren
2		Anish Giri	Anish Giri
3	Wesley So		Wesley So
4	Levon Aronian		Levon Aronian
5		S. Mamedyarov	S. Mamedyarov
6	A. Grischuk	A. Grischuk
7	Richard Rapport	Richard Rapport
8		M. Vachier-Lagrave	M.Vachier-Lagrave
9	L. Dominguez		L. Dominguez
10	Hikaru Nakamura		Hikaru Nakamura
11		Nikita Vitiugov	Nikita Vitiugov
12	P. Harikrishna	P. Harikrishna
13	Vidit Gujarathi	Vidit Gujarathi
14	D. Andreikin		D. Andreikin
15	Daniil Dubov		Daniil Dubov
16		Yu Yangyi	Yu Yangyi
17		Sam Shankland	Sam Shankland
18	V. Fedoseev	V. Fedoseev
19	Alexei Shirov	Alexei Shirov
20		A. Predke	A. Predke
21	G. Oparin		G. Oparin
22	V. Keymer		V. Keymer
23		A. Tabatabaei	A. Tabatabaei
24	E. Bacrot	E. Bacrot

Regulations for the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 (pdf)

About World Chess:

World Chess is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment group and FIDE’ official broadcaster and commercial partner. World Chess organized the FIDE Championship Matches in Russia, the USA, and the UK, and revolutionized the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in history. World Chess develops Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television. World Chess also runs FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform. More at worldchess.com.

About FIDE:

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the governing body of the sport of chess, and it regulates all international chess competitions. Constituted as a non-governmental institution, it was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a Global Sporting Organization in 1999.

FIDE currently has its headquarters in Lausanne, but it was initially founded in 1924 in Paris under the motto “Gens una Sumus” (Latin for “We are one Family”). It was one of the very first International Sports Federations, alongside the governing bodies of the sports of Football, Cricket, Swimming, and Auto Racing. It is now one of the largest, encompassing 199 countries as affiliate members, in the form of National Chess Federations. Chess is nowadays a truly global sport, with dozens of millions of players in all the continents, and more than 60 million games on average played every day. More information: www.fide.com