Online Nations Cup Starts on May 5

Russia to play Europe in the first round.

The International Chess Federation and Chess.com will hold the Online Nations Cup, a team competition, on May 5-10. Six teams will take part in the competition: Russia, USA, Europe, China, India, plus a team representing the "Rest of the World." 

The drawing of lots was held on May 4. Round 1 pairings are as follows:

Europe - Russia
China - Rest of the World
India - USA.

Russia: Ian Nepomniachtchi (rapid rating - 2778), Vladislav Artemiev (2769), Sergey Karjakin (2709) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (2502). Reserve players - Dmitry Andreikin (2740) and Olga Girya (2471), captain - Alexander Motylev.

Europe: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2860), Levon Aronian (2778), Anish Giri (2731), Anna Muzychuk (2533). Reserve players - Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2774) and Nana Dzagnidze (2447), captain - Garry Kasparov.

China: Ding Liren (2836), Wang Hao (2750), Wei Yi (2752), Hou Yifan (2621). Reserve players - Yu Yangyi (2738) and Ju Wenjun (2610), captain - Ye Jiangchuan.

USA: Fabiano Caruana (2773), Hikaru Nakamura (2829), Wesley So (2741), Irina Krush (2392). Reserve players - Leinier Dominguez (2786) and Anna Zatonskih (2327), captain - John Donaldson. 

India: Viswanathan Anand (2751), Vidit Gujrati (2636), Harikrishna Pentala (2690), Humpy Koneru (2483). Reserve players - Adhiban Baskaran (2624) and Harika Dronavalli (2450), team advisor - Vladimir Kramnik.

Rest of the World: Teimour Radjabov (2758), Alireza Firouzja (2703), Amin Bassem (2608), Mariya Muzychuk (2506). Reserve players - Jorge Cori (2599) and Dinara Saduakassova (2412), captain - Arkady Dvorkovich.

The Online Nations Cup is a team championship showdown, where six teams of four players each will fight under a rapid play format, for a prize fund of USD 180,000. 

The first stage, a double round-robin with the six teams, will take place on May 5-9. The top two teams will then play in a Superfinal on Sunday, May 10, to determine the FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup champion. The games will be played in a rapid format, where each player begins the game with 25 minutes on their clock, plus 10 seconds of extra time added after each move.

The prize fund is USD 180,000.



Information on Fide.com

Comment by CFR President Andrey Filatov