System of Running the Russian Online Blitz Grand Prix Open 2102

The competition will be held in three stages:

• 1st stage – 4 qualifying tournaments;
• 2nd stage – Final tournaments. 4 groups of 10 players each;
• 3rd stage – Super Final tournament.

1st stage – qualifying tournaments:

During this stage, 4 open tournaments for individuals are run in 13 rounds using the Swiss system. Each player has 3 minutes, gaining +1 second for each move, starting with the first one.

Each of the 4 tournaments has a pool of 60 000 points. The points are distributed in the following way:

1st place – 12000 points;
2nd place – 9000 points;
3rd place – 7000 points;
4th place –5000 points;
5th place – 3000 points;
6th place – 1500 points;
7th place – 1350 points;
8th place – 1200 points;
9th place – 1050 points;
10th place – 900 points;
11th-20th places – 600 points each;
21st-30th places – 500 points each;
31st-40th places – 400 points each;
41st-50th places – 300 points each;

Tie-breaking is done using:

• Buchholz system (discarding two worst scores);
• Cumulative system;
• Personal match result.

2nd stage – series of Final tournaments:

After the qualifying tournaments, 44 players with the most points pass to the Final tournaments аnd 4 participants recommended by the Russian Chess Federation.

2nd stage system:

48 participants are subdivided into 4 groups, 12 players each. The groups are formed with consideration to the results of the qualifying tournaments. Round robin system is used. Each player has 3 minutes per game, gaining +1 second for each move, starting with the first one.

Forming groups:

Of 12 players in each group, 4 distributed players are determined using the system below; the rest of the group is formed by the Panel of Judges, by drawing. Each group cannot have more than one player recommended by the RCF.

Distributed players:

1st final group: players at the 1st, 8th, 9th, 16th places by the amount of points won in the qualifying tournaments
2nd final group: players at the 2nd, 7th, 10th, 15th places by the amount of points won in the qualifying tournaments
3rd final group: players at the 3rd, 6th, 11th, 14th places by the amount of points won in the qualifying tournaments
4th final group: players at the 4st, 5th, 12th, 13th places by the amount of points won in the qualifying tournaments

The Final tournaments have a prize pool of 540 000 Russian roubles distributed in equal parts between the final groups. As a result, each group has 135 000 Russian roubles distributed in the following way:

1st place – passes to the Super Final tournament;
2nd place – passes to the Super Final tournament;
3rd place – 20 000 roubles;
4th place – 15 000 roubles;
5th place – 15 000 roubles;
6th place – 15 000 roubles;
7th place – 15 000 roubles;
8th place – 15 000 roubles;
9th place – 15 000 roubles;
10th place – 15 000 roubles.

Tie-breaking is done using:

• the amount of points won in the qualifying tournaments. Players nominated by the RCF have zero points;
• Sonneborn-Berger score;
• personal match.

3rd stage – Super Final tournament:

The players who win the 1st and 2nd places in the 4 Final tournaments of the 2nd stage can pass to the 3rd stage.

3rd stage system:

The 3rd stage of the competition uses the knockout (single-elimination) system. The participants play by the following scheme:

The winner of the 1st final group plays against the second-ranked player of the 3rd final group.
The winner of the 4th final group plays against the second-ranked player of the 2nd final group.
The winner of the 2nd final group plays against the second-ranked player of the 4th final group.
The winner of the 3rd final group plays against the second-ranked player of the 1st final group.

In the quarterfinal, semifinal and final games, each player has 3 minutes per game, gaining +1 second for each move, starting with the first one.

Tie-breaking in any of the matches is done using an Armageddon game, where White has 3 minutes, +1 second for every move starting with the first one; and Black has 2 minutes 30 seconds, + 1 second for every move starting with the first one. The colors are set randomly by the ChessOK Playing Zone’s automatic drawing system. In case of a draw, Black passes to the next round.

The Super Final tournament has a prize pool of 740 000 Russian roubles distributed in the following way:

1st place – 200 000 roubles;
2nd place – 140 000 roubles;
3rd place – 100 000 roubles;
4th place – 100 000 roubles;
5th place – 50 000 roubles;
6th place – 50 000 roubles;
7th place – 50 000 roubles;
8th place – 50 000 roubles.