EP 340- FIDE World Cup Preview with Mr. Dodgy- The Best Tournament of the Chess Year starts Sunday! Magnus looks for his first World Cup Win, and Hikaru, Fabiano, and a host of Challengers hope to Earn Spots in the 2024 Candidates Tournament

The FIDE World Cup is a unique, bi-annual tournament that is distinguished by its elimination format, its wide variety of time controls, and its significant prizes, both in terms of cash ($110,000 for first) and in the form of 3 spots that are awarded in the 2024 FIDE Candidates. This year’s edition starts Sunday, and I am joined by Chessable author, tournament organizer, chess superfan, and Twitter celebrity, Mr. Dodgy (Michael Duke) to preview the tournament. Mr. Dodgy and I share our “likes and dislikes” about the tournament and its format, discuss players we are excited to see, make feeble attempts at prognosticating the results, and discuss the FIDE Women’s World Cup, which runs concurrently and is also a star-studded tournament with spots in the Women’s Candidates on the line. 

0:01- What is unique about this tournament? What notables are playing, and who is missing from the field?  

0:07- Who will the commentators be? 

09:30- We review the current state of the FIDE Candidates Cycle. More information here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidates_Tournament_2024

More information on the FIDE Circuit standings here:

https://wcc.fide.com/

15:00- What do we like about the FIDE World Cup? 

Mentioned: GM David Howell, GM Christopher Yoo 

26:00-Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com.

Mr. Dodgy recommends Jan Gustafsson’s 1. E4 e5 course, and Ginger GM and IM Richard Palliser’s “Harry Attack” course. 

https://www.chessable.com/the-harry-attack-fighting-kingside-fianchettos-after-1-d4/course/99939/

https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-jan-gustafssons-1-e4-e5/course/28860/

You can check out some of my recommended courses here: https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/

29:00- Dislikes- What are common critiques of the World Cup?

Mentioned: Episode 149 with GM Robert Hungaski, GM Harikrishna, GM Hans Niemann, 

48:00- Who are the pllayers we are excited to see?

Mentioned: GM D. Gukesh, GM Erigaisi, GM Pragganandhaa, GM Gregory Kaidanov, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Vincent Keymer 

54:00- Why isn’t Alireza playing? 

58:00- Predictions! Who will win the Open Section and who will emerge with the Candidates spots? 

1:01:00- Who are we excited to see in the Women’s Event? Should it take place at the same time as the men’s event? 

Mentioned: IM Eline Roebers, IM Oliwia Kiolbasa, IM Carissa Yip, IM Jennifer Yu, IM Teodora Injac 

1:09:00- Predictions for the Women’s World Cup

Mentioned: IM R. Vaishali, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina 

Thanks again to Mr. Dodgy for joining us! You can follow him on Twitter here:

If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess

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