This was the second time he had won the Chess World Cup, 12 years after his first win in 2005.

[5] The tournament was a knock-out format, with the exception that there was a provision for the two semi-final losers to play off for third place if necessary (see #Candidates qualification).

[6] As it turned out, both Carlsen and Karjakin were eliminated in the first three rounds, so the two Candidates qualifiers were simply the two finalists: Armenia's Levon Aronian and China's Ding Liren.

Tournament organizer Zurab Azmaiparashvili then approached Kovalyov, stating that his attire violated the FIDE dress code and that he would be punished financially if he did not change what he was wearing.

He also checked out of his hotel and booked a flight for Dallas, where he was studying for a master's degree in Computer Science technology at the University of Texas.

[10] The Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) filed a formal complaint about the incident.