Regulations

Regulations Organizing commitee Arbiters Technical Staff Playing Hall

PARTICIPANTS

Veselin Topalov	Bulgaria	ELO 2767
Vassily Ivanchuk	Ukraine	ELO 2740
Levon Aronian	Armenia	ELO 2763
Teimour Radjabov	Azerbaijan	ELO 2751
Ivan Cheparinov	Bulgaria	ELO 2695
Bu Xiangzhi	China	ELO 2708

PLACE
Sofia Bulgaria, Central Military Club

RATE OF PLAY
Sistem - round-robin in two rounds (all play all with White and Black alternatively)
Time control - 90 min for 40 moves + 1 hour to the end of the game.

SHEDULE

Tuesday	May 06	19.00 EEST (16.00 UTC)	Blindfold: Topalov vs Juett (winner in the game Play like Topalov 2007)
Wednesday	May 07
		12.00 EEST (09.00 UTC)	Press conference
		18.00 EEST (15.00 UTC)	Official opening
		19.00 EEST (16.00 UTC)	Cocktail party
Thursday	May 08	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 1
Friday	May 09	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 2
Saturday	May 10	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 3
Sunday	May 11	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 4
Monday	May 12	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 5
Tuesday	May 13		Rest Day
		12.00 EEST (09.00 UTC)	Football: FC Levski vs Chess United
Wednesday	May 14	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 6
Thursday	May 15	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 7
Friday	May 16	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 8
Saturday	May 17	15.00 EEST (12.00 UTC)	Round 9
Sunday	May 18	14.00 EEST (11.00 UTC)	Round 10
		19.00 EEST (16.00 UTC)	Tie breaks
		20.00 EEST (17.00 UTC)	Closing ceremony
		21.00 EEST (18.00 UTC)	Cocktail party

TOURNAMENT RULES
The final standing of the players will be determined according to points. In case of sharing of places - the following criteria will be decisive for the tie-break:

A greater number of wins.
The result of the direct mini-matches between contenders.
Berger.
A greater numbers of moves played.
A tie-break match will be played in case of a tie for the first place in the tournament between the first two players in the final standing (according to points, or the additional criteria). The match will consist of two games with a time-control of 15 minutes per player + 3 seconds added for every move played. In case of a tie, another match of two blitz-games will be played with a time-control of 5 minutes per player + 3 seconds for every move played. In case of another tied result – there will be played a last "sudden-death" decisive game with a time-control 6 minutes for the whole game for the White-player and 4 minutes for the whole game for Black-player. The White-player will only need a victory in this game to win the tournament, whole the Black-player will win the tournament by just not losing that final decisive game.
In case the first place might be shared by more than two players – the final standing will be determined according to the criteria that have been mentioned above.

The players should not talk during the games; additionally they should not offer draws directly to their opponents. Draw-offers will be allowed only through the Chief-Arbiter in three cases: a triple-repetition of the position, a perpetual check and in theoretically drawn positions.

The Chief-Arbiter is the only authority who can acknowledge the final result of the game in these cases. He will be advised in his decisions throughout the tournament by GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili, FIDE Vice-President.

PHOTOGRAPHS, CAMERAS AND TV BROADCASTING
Taking pictures in the tournament hall will only be permitted during the first 10 minutes after beginning of the game.
TV broadcasting of the games can be done throughout the tournament of the playing area.

General sponsor