FIDE Grand Prix 2022 Berlin (February)

Tournament Format & Time Controls

• General Time Control (Classical)

  • $90$ minutes for the first $40$ moves, followed by $30$ minutes for the remainder of the game, with a $30$-second increment per move starting from move 1.

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• Stage 1: Group Stage (Pools)

  • Format: 16 players divided into 4 pools of 4.

  • System: Double Round-Robin mini-tournament within each pool.

  • Advancement: The winner of each pool advances to the Knockout Stage.

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• Stage 2: Knockout Stage (Playoffs)

  • Format: 4-player Single-Elimination bracket (Semi-Finals & Finals).

  • Match Type: Each match consists of 2 Classical games, followed by Tiebreakers if needed.

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Tiebreaker Rules

Used to break ties for $1^\text{st}$ place in the Group Stage or equal scores after 2 Classical games in the Knockout Stage:

1. Rapid Tiebreaker: 2 games at $15+10$ time control (or a Single Round-Robin for a 3-way tie).

2. Blitz Tiebreaker: 2 games at $3+2$ time control (or a Single Round-Robin for a 3-way tie).

3. Armageddon Game:

   • Time: 5 minutes for White, 4 minutes for Black (with a 2-second increment per move starting from move 61).

   • Rule: Black wins the match in case of a draw.

   • Note: For a 4-way tie, players are randomly paired into semi-final tiebreaker brackets following the same progression.