Chess World Cup

The Chess World Cup is the name given to a number of a number of different chess tournaments sponsored by FIDE, the world chess federation. The format and significance of the tournaments has changed over the years.In 2000 and 2002 FIDE staged the "First Chess World Cup" and "Second Chess World Cup" respectively. These were major tournaments, but not directly linked to the World Chess Championship. Both the 2000 and 2002 events were won by Viswanathan Anand. Since 2005, a different event of the same name has been part of the World Chess Championship cycle. This event is being held every two years. It is a 128 player knockout tournament, in the same style as the 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004 FIDE World Championships. The Chess World Cup 2005 qualified ten players for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2007. The Chess World Cup 2007 qualified one player for the next stage of the World Chess Championship 2009. This event was won by Gata Kamsky.