Svidler reached the final of Chess World Cup 2015 in Baku having defeated Emre Can 1.5-0.5, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 3.5-2.5 after tiebreaks, Radjabov 2.5-1.5 after tiebreaks, top-seeded Veselin Topalov 1.5-0.5, Chinese prodigy Wei Yi, 3.5-2.5 after tiebreaks, and Anish Giri 1.5-0.5 in the semi-finals. He won the first two games against compatriot Sergey Karjakin but dramatically lost the remaining two games, forcing a tiebreak match, formed of mini-matches of shortening time control. Advantage switched between the players but eventually at the blitz time control (5 minutes + 2 seconds per move) Karjakin won both games to take the title. However, having reached the final, Svidler qualified for the 2016 Candidates Tournament.