It was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, played between 26 August and 21 September 2011, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

The format for the tie breaks was as follows:[3] In the final the regulation is the same with the exception that instead of two games with "long" time control the finalists are to play four.

Those who lost in the semifinal round played an additional match (according to the same regulation as in the final) for third place and the right to participate in the Candidates.

The winner of the Chess World Cup 2009, Boris Gelfand, did not participate.

The players qualified for the event were:[4] 1 Wang Hao and Vladimir Akopian did not appear for their first round matches and lost on forfeit.