Pawn Promotions

The Gateway to Global Chess

First Grand Prix Series

There was a three-way tie for first place at the First FIDE Grand Prix in Baku: Vugar Gashimov, Wang Yue and Magnus Carlsen, all of whom ended at 8.0/13 points.
FIDE has instituted a series of six Grand Prix tournaments to be held over the next two years (2008-2009) in leading world cities. The first leg of this series began in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan on April 20 and continues through May 6. This thirteen round event features a strong field of players:
Magnus Carlsen (2765) from Norway, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2752) from Azerbaijan, Teimour Radjabov (2751) from Azerbaijan, Peter Svidler (2746) from Russia, Sergey Karjakin (2732) from the Ukraine, Michael Adams (2729) from England, Gata Kamsky (2726) from the United States, Alexander Grischuk (2716) from Russia, Etienne Bacrot (2705) from France, Ivan Cheparinov (2695) from Bulgaria, Wang Yue (2689) from China, Ernesto Inarkiev (2684) from Russia, Vugar Gashimov (2679) from Azerbaijan and David Navara (2672) from the Czech Republic.
The winner of the Grand Prix series at the end of 2009 will play the winner of the 2009 World Cup in an eight game match; the winner of that match will become the challenger to the World Champion in a match to be held in the third quarter of 2010.
More information can be found on the Grand Prix Series website. For live commentary, games photos and much more visit the official Baku 2008 Grand Prix tournament website.