The 70th ICCF Jubilee Chess 960 World Cup was organised as one of a series of tournaments to mark the 70th anniversary of the ICCF. It took place in 2 stages over 5 years (from 15.02.2021 to 09.06.2026).
Preliminaries started on 15.02.2021 in 2 sections (37 players each, in total 74 entries) and finished on 19.06.2022.
The 4 best players from each section were promoted to the final. In addition, the winner of the Diamond Jubilee Chess 960 World Cup could enter directly to the final stage of the 70th ICCF Jubilee World Cup. Ultimately, 7 out of 9 qualified competitors took part in the final.
The final (double round robin), in which 7 competitors participated, started on 15.08.2022 and finished on 09.06.2026. It was directed by IA Józef Lubas (POL) and after his death by IA Austin Lockwood (WLS).
The standard tie-breaking procedure (double round robin event: number of wins, then Sonneborn-Berger, then direct encounter among tied players) was supplemented with an additional tie-breaking procedure (the lower rating for chess 960 at the end of the tournament).
After the tournament deadline (15.01.2025), one unfinished game was extended to its natural conclusion.
The tournament standings are shown in the table below. An additional tie-break was necessary, but the table on the ICCF server is sufficient anyway.
Correspondence tournaments last quite a long time, often several years, and players can expect various problems, such as personal or professional problems, long-term illness, death, disaster, or even neglect. However, it is always difficult to come to terms with such a situation. It is particularly important in top-ranking tournaments like this one.
During the tournament (both in the preliminaries and the final), several players forfeited games on time (ETL), which significantly disturbed the final results of the tournament. Because of this, many players have been dissatisfied.
It is obvious that this differs from sportsmanship, but we often have no influence on this. The current regulations in this matter are at least uniform and fairer.
Final results:
The winner of the tournament is Iurii Koshmak, in front of Paul Muljadi and Tibor Csiba.
Congratulations!
More details in the report.