It's Leko vs Anand in Miskolc

Peter Leko vs Anand in Miskolc, Hungary Chess fans from five continents can look forward to a spectacular event taking place in Miskolc from June 2-7, 2009. The year’s most prestigious clash in Hungary is being organized at the National Theater, 1 Déryné str, Miskolc. The number one Hungarian grandmaster, Peter Leko takes up a duel of eight games against the Indian World Champion Viswanathan Anand. The games will be played at a rate of 25 minutes for all moves with a bonus of ten seconds per moves. In case of a 4-4 draw blitz games will decide the winner. The arbiter of the Match will be WGM Zsuzsa Veroci, Head of Communication of the Hungarian Chess Federation. At the end of each day of play there will be a press conference of 10-15 minutes with both players. On the final day the press conference will last 30 minutes.

Miskolc (pronounced "Mish-kolts") is the third biggest city in Hungary; the inhabitants are very fond of culture and sports over here. In the last few years great athletes from Europe and all over the world have met in Miskolc for events in ice-hockey, handball, basketball, karate, boxing, speedway, etc. Two of our frequented events have become traditional, namely the Bartók+ International Opera Festival in summer and the more and more popular Kocsonya Festival in wintertime.

Miskolc in the north-east of Hungary – click, drag or expand to explore – or view larger map

Chess has long-standing traditions in Miskolc; the city has produced multiple-winning teams in national championships, as well as a number of noted players on the international scene. Miskolc is a first city in Hungary where Peter Leko launched his chess school.

Hungary's top GM Peter Leko

One can hardly wait for the fifth anniversary duel in the "Lékó & …" series. After Michael Adams in 2005, Anatoly Karpov in 2006, Vladimir Kramnik in 2007 and Magnus Carlsen in 2008, this year Peter Leko faces the 15th World Champion of chess, the 39-year-old Viswanathan Anand, whom Hungarian chess fans can see "live” for the first time in this country.

World Champions Vishy Anand from India

In 1987 Anand became youth world champion, in 1988 International Grandmaster. In 1995 he played the PCA World Championship Final against Garry Kasparov, but was defeated by 10.5-7.5. In 1998 he played Anatoly Karpov for the FIDE World Champion title, but after 3:3 he lost in the rapid play-off.

In 2000 Vishy Anand overcame Aleksei Shirov with a superb 3.5-0.5 performance in the FIDE World Championship Final. In 2007, in the World Championship in Mexico, he remained unbeaten during the whole double round robin tournament and wrested the World Champion title from Vladimir Kramnik. As a culmination of his brilliant career, he defended his title in a match against Kramnik in Bonn, with a triumphant 6.5-4.5 score.

The World Champion has produced two biographical training DVDs, available in the ChessBase Shop

The title of chess player of the year has been awarded to Anand five times. Among his great triumphs five first places in Wijk aan Zee and three victories in Linares must be emphasized. Vishy is considered the best player in the world in in rapid chess. Among others he prevailed five times at the Amber-tournament and won eight times in the arena of Mainz.

Vishy Anand and Peter Leko face each other in Morelia, Mexico, 2008

Peter Leko and Viswanathan Anand played against each other for the first time in a blitz game in 1994 and, since then, they have encountered each other in 72 games. They played classical, rapid, blind and blitz games, respectively. Anand is in the lead by 21-7, with 45 draws. In rapid games the Indian world champion won seven times, lost three times and ten games were draws. According to the ranking list of 1 April 2009, Anand is ranked number two in the world, with 2783 Elo points, while Leko occupies the ninth place with 2751 points.

Schedule

Links

• Lékó & Anand official web site

All ChessBase reports from

• Miskolc 2006 Leko vs Karpov
• Miskolc 2007 Leko vs Kramnik
• Miskolc 2008 Leko vs Carlsen