2016 FIDE WORLD CHESS CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT TO BE PLAYED IN MARCH

November, 10 2015 – MOSCOW, RUSSIA – The World Chess Federation (FIDE) and Agon Limited, the commercial partner of FIDE, are pleased to announce that the next FIDE World Chess Candidates tournament will take place in Moscow, Russia in March, from 10th to 30th 2016.

The “Tashir Group” is an official partner of the tournament. The event will be supported by the Russian Chess Federation.

This will mark the second time that the Candidates is taking place in Russia, with Khanty-Mansiysk hosting the 2014 event.

8 players, including 6 of the World’s top-10 rated grandmasters, representing 6 countries, will take part in this prestigious chess event.

The winner will determine the challenger to compete against the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship. The World Championship match is planned to take place in November 2016 in the USA.

According to FIDE regulations, the list of players includes the top two performers from the 2014-2015 Grand Prix: Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana (both of the USA); the winner and runner-up of the 2015 World Cup, Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler (both of Russia); as well as the loser of the 2014 World Chess Championship match, Viswanathan Anand of India; Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Anish Giri of the Netherlands, based on their 2015 FIDE ratings are likely to have qualified to participate.

The eighth and final participant is Levon Aronian of Armenia, who was chosen as Wild Card entry by the Organizers.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the President of the World Chess Federation, said: “We are looking forward to an exciting tournament in Moscow. The Candidates tournaments usually receive wide media attention and this one is likely to be one of the most televised chess events as FIDE and its partners are working to make chess a television spectator sport. We hope chess fans around the world will follow the tournament and will enjoy it.”

The guaranteed prize fund of the tournament will be in excess of 450,000 USD.

About FIDE:
The World Chess Federation or Fédération Internationale des Echecs, (FIDE), is recognised by its members and the International Olympic Committee as the international federation in the domain of chess, the supreme body responsible for the sport of chess and its Championships. FIDE has the sole rights to organise the World Chess Championships and the Chess Olympiads.

About World Chess by Agon Limited:
Agon Limited is the official partner of World Chess Federation (FIDE) and owner of commercial rights to the World Chess Championship cycle. The company aims to develop and commercialize chess, create favorable environment for partners, players, and brands, and to significantly expand the broadcast coverage of the sport. With this in mind the company introduces World Chess brand, targeting 600+ million chess players and spectators all over the world.

Agon became owner of commercial rights in 2012. The company successfully managed the 2012-2013 Grand Prix cycle, the 2014 World Championship Match, and the 2015 Rapid and Blitz World Championships. For commercial and partnership opportunities, please visit www.agonlimited.com.

About Tashir Group:
Tashir is a diversified federation-wide group of companies founded in 1999 and uniting over 200 companies in various sectors of Russia’s economy, including construction, manufacturing, finance, energy, development, and retail. Its staff totals over 45,000 people. The company’s geography covers over 60 cities of Russia and the former USSR. Tashir’s founder and President is Samvel Karapetyan; the company is headquartered in Moscow.

The Group’s primary business is development and managing of commercial real estate, with a focus on retail estate. Tashir is a leader in development in Russia and has so far built 2.5 million sq m of modern, hi-tech commercial and residential real estate.