Agon and FIDE Invite Cities and Chess Federations to Consider Hosting the World Chess Candidates Tournament
Dear members of the media: Below you’ll find the release sent to Chess Federations and directors of marketing for cities and tourism boards. Agon and FIDE are inviting them to consider hosting one of the most exciting chess tournaments — the Candidates (it’ll take place on March 8 – 29, 2016). This is part of our ongoing effort to involve federations and make cities more aware of chess opportunities.
As you probably know, there are cities that have been hosting many chess events. We are very keen to increase the roster of cities that can take advantage of what chess can offer: chess audience is phenomenal: apart from millions of people who follow chess on regular basis, there are hundreds of millions who will watch the news or read chess reportage in the media. Combined audience for the recent World Chess Championship match (including TV, print and online coverage) reached 900 million (and yes, many were from India!).
We are happy to answer any questions and hope to see many of you in Berlin. (Press accreditation will start on Wednesday September 9 (exactly a month before the World Rapid and Blitz Championship). We’ll send an accreditation invitation soon.
You can contact us directly at media@agonlimited.com.
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Agon and FIDE are very pleased to announce a Call of Interest to host the 2016 World Chess Candidates Tournament on March 8 – 29, 2016.
The Candidates Tournament is one of the most important and most followed tournaments in the World Chess Championship cycle. It will determine the challenger for the 2016 World Chess Championship Match.
Eight players will participate in the Candidates Tournament and the winner qualifies for the World Chess Championship Match which will take place on November 9 – November 30, 2016.
The eight players qualify to the Tournament as follows:
one player who lost the 2014 World Chess Championship match, two winners of the World Cup, two winners of the Grand Prix series, two players by rating and one is nominated by the organizers. Prize fund for the event (including the FIDE fee) is EUR540,000 and estimated costs are ranging from $1.25 million to $1.45 million depending on various factors.
Agon is inviting Federations and organizers interested to co-organize the event to review organization guidelines and send a call of Interest by October 10, 2015 to Agon at office@agonlimited.com.
Details of the Tournament:
Dates: March 8 – 29, 2016
Number of players: 8
Format: Double round robin tournament (14 rounds)
Length: 22 days including arrivals, departures, opening and closing ceremonies
Prize fund: EUR 540,000 including FIDE fees
Please contact us if you have any questions or need more information. You are also welcome to forward this email to local organizers if they might be interested in this opportunity.
More information at Agon’s site.
Kind regards,
Agon team