ANAND TOP SEED IN CHESS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
By Our Chess Correspondent

Press Trust of India, India
Sept 12

Mexico, Sept 12 (PTI) Viswanathan Anand will start as the top seed
but a tough contest is on cards in the Chess World championship that
starts here from tomorrow.

After his recent elevation as the top ranked player in the world
in ELO ratings, this will be Anand’s first major event in Classical
chess and the Indian will have to give his best if he has to regain
the title he won in 2001.

For the chess buffs across the world the extravaganza, arguably
the strongest ever tournament in the history of the game, promises
exciting chess spread well over a fortnight when the eight top players
of the planet will take on each other twice to determine the new
World champion.

The onus will be on Russian Vladimir Kramnik who was crowned the
new world champion in 2006 after his victory over Veselin Topalov of
Bulgaria in the reunification match, famous as toiletgate, at Elista
in Russia.

Kramnik is the second seed in the event on ELO scales but is amongst
the favourites for the crown here.

For the records, the eight-players double round robin tournament will
be played under classical chess rules and all games can last up to
seven hours. There will be 14 games in all and the new world champion
will be decided based on the number of points scored from these games.

Amongst other participants Armenian Levon Aronian is also expected to
be among the contenders for the world title. A former World Junior
champion, Aronian has been quite impressive in the recent past and
is amongst the few players who have beaten Anand in classical chess
recently. PTI