AI Cup

Qualifiers:

• Open to all titled players besides grandmasters (who have automatic entry into the Play-Ins): NM, CM, FM, IM, WCM, WFM, WIM, WGM.
• Qualifiers consist of an 11-round Swiss.
• The time control is 10+2.
• The top three players from each event will be eligible to participate in the upcoming Play-In.
• Every Monday at 8 a.m. PT from February 13 to August 21, except on weeks with a Play-In or Knockout.
• See more here.

Play-In

• Open to all grandmasters.
• Play-in consists of a nine-round Swiss and a “Match Play” stage.
• The time control is 10+2.
• The top-ranked players from the Swiss advance to the Match Play stage.
• The top four players from the Swiss pick, one by one, their opponents for their Match Play among players placed between fifth and eighth.
• The remaining Match Play pairings are based on players’ Swiss final placement.
• Each match in Match Play consists of two games.
• A bidding armageddon game breaks Match Play ties: there’s a 10-minute base time for the armageddon game. The bid winner has the choice of color and starts the game with the amount of time they bid. Black has draw odds. If the bid is tied, players bid again. There is no increment.
• Following Match Play, players advance to the Knockout stage and enter one of three divisions based on their results.

Knockout

The Knockout stage features 56 players playing across three different divisions based on their Match Play results:

• Division I: eight players.

• Four invited players (Carlsen, Nakamura, So, and Caruana).
• The four winners of the matches between the top-8 players from the Play-in Swiss.

• Division II: 16 players.

• The four losers of the matches between the top-8 players from the Play-in Swiss.
• The 12 winners of the matches between players placed 9th to 32nd in the Play-in Swiss.

• Division III: 32 players.

• The 12 losers of the matches between players placed 9th to 32nd in the Play-in Swiss.
• The 20 winners of the matches between players placed 33rd to 72nd in the Play-in Swiss.

Each division has prize money and Tour Points on the line.

The Knockout stage has the following format:

• Each division features a double-elimination knockout bracket.
• The time control is 15+3.
• Divisions I and II feature four-game matches in the Winners Bracket and two-game matches in the Losers Bracket.
• Division III features two-game matches in both the Winners and Losers Brackets and a four-game match in the Grand Finals.
• If there’s a Grand Finals reset (player coming out of the Losers Bracket wins the first set), the second set features a two-game match.
• A bidding armageddon game with a 15-minute base time breaks ties.