The event opened on the 16th local time. Ding Liren, Wang Hao and six other players played a double-loop 14-round competition until April 3. The winner will be qualified to challenge the current chess king Carlson. This is also the first time that two players have participated in the competition in China.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 26 (reporter Zheng Zhilu Yuchen) affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, the Russian government will suspend most international flights from 27th. The 2020 World Chess Championship candidate competition, which was being held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, was suspended at half of the schedule. Chinese delegations including Ding Liren and Wang Hao also immediately set off to return home.
The 2020 World Chess Championship candidate Competition opened on the 16th local time. Ding Liren and Wang Hao played a double-loop 14-round competition with six other players until April 3. The winner will be qualified to challenge the current chess king Carlson. This is also the first time that two players have participated in the competition in China.
On the 26th, according to several media reports, Russia will suspend most flights to and from other countries from the 27th in order to curb the outbreak of covid-19, and only retain the flights approved by the government. The International Chess Federation later issued a statement on its official website, saying: “The international chess federation cannot continue this candidate competition without ensuring the safety and timely return of chess players and officials. Devorkovic, the president of the International Chess Federation, decided to suspend the game.”
The statement said: “After the global epidemic is alleviated, the competition will continue and the specific date will be announced as soon as possible.”
At present, the first cycle of the event has ended. After the seventh round of the 25th local time, the host chess player nepomniac and the French chess player vaschel led by 4.5 points, while Wang Hao scored 3.5 points, ding Li is 2.5 points. According to the statement, according to the agreement between the players and the players before the game, the results of the first seven rounds are valid, and the eighth round after the resumption of the game will be completely carried out in accordance with the previous plan.
It is understood that Ding Liren, Wang Hao, coach Xu Jun and translator Li Kaimin have successfully changed the ticket. It is expected that they will fly from Yekaterinburg to Moscow first and then take off from Moscow to Beijing. It was only about five hours between receiving the notice of the suspension of the game and the departure of the flight in Yekaterinburg. In addition, players from other countries are changing their tickets one after another.
The International Chess Federation has postponed the three international competitions held in Greece before the opening of this candidate competition. The candidate competition, as a chess player with only eight players, can be held as scheduled. The International Chess Federation also formulated various health and safety measures before the start of the competition, including all relevant personnel in the competition receiving body temperature measurements before entering the venue, and the distance between the first row of the auditorium and the chess player is at least 15 meters.