Zurich Chess Challenge

The Zurich Chess Challenge (ZCC) is one of the major recurring international chess tournaments, combining rapid chess with classical or blitz chess. Zurich shows an exhibition type of tournament, similar at the former Amber chess tournament ambience, which explains some laxness and a comparatively brief duration of the whole event. It takes place in Zurich, Switzerland.^[1] The main sponsor is Russian businessman Oleg Skvortsov.^[2][3]

Winners

#	Year	Challenge winner
1	2012	Two-players match resulted with draw
2	2013	Fabiano Caruana (Italy)
3	2014	Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
4	2015	Hikaru Nakamura (United States)
5	2016	Hikaru Nakamura (United States)
6	2017	Hikaru Nakamura (United States)

Zurich Chess Challenge 2012

The Zurich Chess Challenge 2012 was a six-game chess match between Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Levon Aronian (Armenia) from 21 to 28 April 2012.^[4][5] Each player won one game and there were four draws.

	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Rating change
Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)	2801	0	½	1	½	½	½	3	+2
Levon Aronian (Armenia)	2820	1	½	0	½	½	½	3	−2

Zurich Chess Challenge 2013

Italy's Fabiano Caruana won the Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 which took place from 23 February to 1 March 2013.^[6][7][8]

No	Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	Points	Rating change
1	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	2757	Does not appear	½ 1	½ ½	½ 1	4	+12
2	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2780	½ 0	Does not appear	½ 1	½ ½	3	−1
3	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2810	½ ½	½ 0	Does not appear	½ ½	2½	−9
4	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2740	½ 0	½ ½	½ ½	Does not appear	2½	−1

Zurich Chess Challenge 2014

The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 took place from 29 January to 4 February 2014. The average rating of its participants is 2801, the highest ever at the time, and it is also the first category 23 tournament ever.^[9] Magnus Carlsen won the tournament.

The opening day included five rounds of blitz to decide the draw, which was won by Carlsen. The main tournament consists of five rounds of classical chess and finally five rounds of rapid chess on the closure day.^[10][11]

Blitz results

No	Player	Blitz Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	SB
1	Magnus Carlsen (NOR)	2837	Does not appear	½	1	0	1	½	3	7.25
2	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2863	½	Does not appear	0	½	1	1	3	6.75
3	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2879	0	1	Does not appear	1	½	0	2½	6.75
4	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	2697	1	½	0	Does not appear	0	1	2½	6
5	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2827	0	0	½	1	Does not appear	1	2½	5.25
6	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2719	½	0	1	0	0	Does not appear	1½	4

Classical results

No	Player	FIDE ranking	Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	Rating change
1	Magnus Carlsen (NOR)	1	2872	Does not appear	½	1	1	½	1	8	+9
2	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2	2812	½	Does not appear	0	1	1	½	6	+4
3	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	6	2782	0	1	Does not appear	½	½	½	5	+2
4	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	3	2789	0	0	½	Does not appear	1	½	4	−4
5	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	9	2773	½	0	½	0	Does not appear	1	4	−3
6	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	8	2777	0	½	½	½	0	Does not appear	3	−8

For games that ended in a draw in under 40 moves, a subsequent rapid game between the two players was mandatory, although these particular rapid games had no relevance to the tournament standings. Two such games were played: Gelfand–Aronian (0–1) in the third round and Gelfand–Nakamura (1–0) in the fifth round.

Rapid results

No	Player	Rapid Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	Rating change
1	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	2812	Does not appear	1	½	1	½	1	4	+28
2	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2826	0	Does not appear	1	½	1	1	3½	+15
3	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2770	½	0	Does not appear	1	½	1	3	+15
4	Magnus Carlsen (NOR)	2845	0	½	0	Does not appear	1	½	2	−18
5	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2735	½	0	½	0	Does not appear	½	1½	−10
6	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2800	0	0	0	½	½	Does not appear	1	−30

Combined final results

The combined final score for the tournament was calculated by scoring each game in the classical competition on a 2–1–0 basis and each game in the rapid competition on a 1–½–0 basis.

No	Player	Points
1	Magnus Carlsen (NOR)	10
2	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	9
3	Levon Aronian (ARM)	9
4	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	7½
5	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	5
6	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	4½

Zurich Chess Challenge 2015

The 2015 tournament featured Fabiano Caruana, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and Hikaru Nakamura. The tournament was held from 13-19 February 2015 at the Hotel Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich.^[12]

A Blitz Tournament determined the colors distribution on the first day of the tournament (Friday, February 13, 2015).^[13] After the opening, 5 classical games were played following by another 5 rapid games on the last day of the tournament. The rules stated that wins (2 points) and draws (1) count double for classical games, with a draw before move 40 “punished” by an extra rapid game.

Vishy Anand and Hikaru Nakamura ended up with 9 points. For determining the winner, although it was said before that the previous games between two must decide the result, they changed the rules midway and asked the players to play an armageddon game in which Hikaru Nakamura won with the black and ended up as the tournament winner.

Blitz results

No	Player	Blitz Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	SB
1	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2777	Does not appear	½	1	1	½	1	4	8.75
2	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	2811	½	Does not appear	½	½	1	1	3.5	6.75
3	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2797	0	½	Does not appear	1	1	1	3.5	5.75
4	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2776	0	½	0	Does not appear	½	1	2	3.25
5	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2783	½	0	0	½	Does not appear	0	1	3
6	Sergey Karjakin (RUS)	2760	0	0	0	0	1	Does not appear	1	1

Classical results

No	Player	Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	SB
1	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2797	Does not appear	2	1	1	1	2	7	16.5
2	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2776	0	Does not appear	1	2	2	1	6	12.5
3	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2783	1	1	Does not appear	1	1	1	5	12.5
4	Sergey Karjakin (RUS)	2760	1	0	1	Does not appear	1	1	4	10
5	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	2811	1	0	1	1	Does not appear	1	4	10
6	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2777	0	1	1	1	1	Does not appear	4	9.5

Rapid results

No	Player	Rapid Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	SB
1	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2783	Does not appear	1	1	0	½	1	3.5	7.75
2	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2777	0	Does not appear	½	1	1	½	3	6.25
3	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2776	0	½	Does not appear	½	1	1	3	6
4	Sergey Karjakin (RUS)	2760	1	0	½	Does not appear	½	0	2	6
5	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2797	½	0	0	½	Does not appear	1	2	4.25
6	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	2811	0	½	0	1	0	Does not appear	1.5	2.5

Tiebreak

After the games Nakamura and Anand were the leaders with 9 point. An Armageddon tiebreak game between the two tied leaders, Anand and Nakamura. White was given five minutes, black four. White had to win in order to win the tournament. Hikaru Nakamura won as black making him the winner of the tournament. ^[14]

Combined final results

The combined final score for the tournament was calculated by scoring each game in the classical competition on a 2–1–0 basis and each game in the rapid competition on a 1–½–0 basis.

No	Player	Points
1	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	9.0
2	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	9.0
3	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	8.5
4	Levon Aronian (ARM)	7.0
5	Sergey Karjakin (RUS)	6.0
6	Fabiano Caruana (ITA)	5.5

Zurich Chess Challenge 2016

In the 2016 tournament, held from 12–15 February 2016, starting on a Friday and already ending on the following Monday, players were awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw in the rapid section, and one point for a win and half a point for a draw in the blitz section. No classical chess was played. Hikaru Nakamura won the blitz section on tiebreaks and tied with Viswanathan Anand in the rapid section. Nakamura won the overall event.^[15]

The tournament was also held alongside a match between Alexander Morozevich and Boris Gelfand.

Rapid results

No	Player	Rapid Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	SB
1	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2777	Does not appear	1	1	2	1	2	7	15
2	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2842	1	Does not appear	1	2	2	1	7	15
3	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2793	1	1	Does not appear	1	1	2	6	13.5
4	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2746	0	0	1	Does not appear	2	1	4	7.5
5	Alexei Shirov (LAT)	2682	1	0	1	0	Does not appear	1	3	8
6	Anish Giri (NED)	2756	0	1	0	1	1	Does not appear	3	7

Blitz results

No	Player	Blitz Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	SB
1	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2884	Does not appear	½	½	1	1	½	3.5	7.75
2	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2764	½	Does not appear	½	½	1	1	3.5	6.75
3	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2817	½	½	Does not appear	½	1	1	3.5	6.75
4	Anish Giri (NED)	2793	0	½	½	Does not appear	½	1	2.5	4.75
5	Levon Aronian (ARM)	2814	0	0	0	½	Does not appear	1	1.5	1.75
6	Alexei Shirov (LAT)	2682	½	0	0	0	0	Does not appear	0.5	1.75

Combined final results

No	Player	Points	SB
1	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	10.5	22.75
2	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	10.5	21.75
3	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	9.5	20.25
4	Anish Giri (NED)	5.5	11.75
5	Levon Aronian (ARM)	5.5	9.25
6	Alexei Shirov (LAT)	3.5	9.75

Exhibition match results

A two-game exhibition match was played between Alexander Morozevich and Boris Gelfand, in the same time control as the Rapid portion of the main tournament. Boris Gelfand won the mini-match.

	Player	FIDE Rating	1	2	Points
1	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2735	½	1	1½
2	Alexander Morozevich (RUS)	2683	½	0	½

Zurich Chess Challenge 2017

American Hikaru Nakamura won the total standings by winning a blitz tournament half a point ahead of the Indian Viswanathan Anand and a full point ahead of Ian Nepomniachtchi.^[16]

Rapid result

No	Player	Classical Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Points
1	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2793	Does not appear	2	1	1	0	2	2	2	10
2	Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)	2751	0	Does not appear	2	1	1	2	2	2	10
3	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2786	1	0	Does not appear	0	2	2	2	2	9
4	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2811	1	1	2	Does not appear	1	1	1	1	8
5	Peter Svidler (RUS)	2747	2	1	0	1	Does not appear	1	1	2	8
6	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2724	0	0	0	1	1	Does not appear	2	1	5
7	Yannick Pelletier (SUI)	2541	0	0	0	1	1	0	Does not appear	1	3
8	Grigoriy Oparin (RUS)	2604	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	Does not appear	3

Blitz result

No	Player	Classical Elo rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Points
1	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2793	Does not appear	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	5
2	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2786	½	Does not appear	½	½	1	½	½	1	4½
3	Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)	2751	½	½	Does not appear	½	½	1	0	1	4
4	Peter Svidler (RUS)	2747	½	½	½	Does not appear	½	0	1	1	4
5	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2724	½	0	½	½	Does not appear	1	½	1	4
6	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2811	0	½	0	1	0	Does not appear	1	½	3
7	Grigoriy Oparin (RUS)	2604	0	½	1	0	½	0	Does not appear	½	2½
8	Yannick Pelletier (SUI)	2541	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	Does not appear	1

Combined final results

No	Player	Classical Elo rating	Points
1	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	2793	15.0
2	Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)	2751	14.0
3	Viswanathan Anand (IND)	2786	13.5
4	Peter Svidler (RUS)	2747	12.0
5	Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)	2811	11.0
6	Boris Gelfand (ISR)	2724	9.0
7	Grigoriy Oparin (RUS)	2604	5.5
8	Yannick Pelletier (SUI)	2541	4.0

See also

• Zürich 1934 chess tournament
• Zurich 1953 chess tournament