They were considered the flagship tournaments of the GMA but were abandoned as the association gradually collapsed in the early 1990s.
Since 2005, the format has been 128 players with 7 single-elimination rounds of "mini-matches", which are 2 games each followed by a series of rapid then blitz tiebreaks if necessary.
[9] Fatigue thus plays a critical role, and while some players seek to conserve energy by avoiding tiebreaks, others "agree" (either explicitly or implicitly) to make short draws in the 2 long games and decide the winner in tiebreaks.
[11] "Qual" refers to the number of players who qualify for the Candidates Tournament (marked with green background).
In 2021, Sergey Karjakin qualified for the 2022 Candidates Tournament via the World Cup, but was subsequently disqualified for making statements in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.