Mexico countdown: Openings Ceremony, pairings

by ChessBase
9/13/2007 – It starts today, at 14:00h local time in Mexico City, probably quite a bit later where you are located. Yesterday was the opening ceremony and drawing of lots, which lets us to create a full schedule and pairings of the world championship. The games will be broadcast on the official site and on Playchess. To get you in the mood here is another big pictorial report by our Mexico reporter Ali Nihat Yazici.

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World Championship 2007 Mexico

The World Championship 2007 will take place from September 12 to 30 in the Sheraton Centro Histórico Hotel in Mexico City. Eight players are qualified – the tournament will be a double round robin. The prize fund is US $1.3 million.


One by one the players are led to the stage. If you look carefully you will recognise Peter Leko, Levon Aronian, Alexander Morozevich, Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, each behind a child that led them on the stage.


The kids who looked after the players at the opening ceremony


This one got the top seed!


Look who I got! The one that looks like a rock star!


And two more cuties, in charge of Boris Gelfand and Vladimir Kramnik


The Mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon addresses the guests


Former and now honorary FIDE President Florencio Campomanes speaks


The man behind this giant event: chief organiser Jorge Saggiante


FIDE dignitaries: Verification Committee Chairman Lakhdar Mazouz,
Mrs Jarrett,
Executive Director David Jarrett, Mrs Peter Rajcsanyi


Vice President William Kelleher and FIDE Legal Adviser Morten Sand


Tumultuous scenes as Anand steps forward to draw his lot


A tough job for journalists – impossible to get a clear shot as Morozevich approaches


After the drawing of lots the pairings are displayed on a giant screen


Top seed Viswanathan Anand of India (ranked first in the world, rated 2792)


The man to beat (= take the title from): current world champion Vladimir Kramnik


Big Al Grischuk, extremely popular with half the local population


Alexander Morozevich, rated 2758, one of the most original participants


Peter Leko, top Hungarian GM, former world championship challenger


Part of the Leko Brigade: wife Sofi and father-in-law trainer GM Arshak Petrosian


Big, tall Danish grandmaster assisting the Indian player (okay, Peter Heine Nielsen, Anand's second)


FIDE General Secretary Ignatius Leong, coming all the way from Singapore


Our reporter and photographer in Mexico: Ali Nihat Yazici, super-active President of the Turkish Chess Federation


Pairings and schedule

Here are the starting numbers of the players, which resulted in the pairings given below, and the general schedule:

No.
Player Nat. Rtn Birth
1
Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2769 1975
2
Alexander Morozevich RUS 2758 1977
3
Vishwanathan Anand IND 2792 1969
4
Alexander Grischuk RUS 2726 1983
5
Peter Leko HUN 2751 1979
6
Boris Gelfand ISR 2733 1968
7
Levon Aronian ARM 2750 1982
8
Peter Svidler RUS 2735 1976
 
September 2007
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12
Open
13
Rd 01
14
Rd 02
15
Rd 03
16
Rd 04
17
Free
18
Rd 05
19
Rd 06
20
Rd 07
21
Rd 08
22
Free
23
Rd 09
24
Rd 10
25
Rd 11
26
Free
27
Rd 12
28
Rd 13
29
Rd 14
30
Close

Full Schedule and Results (first half)

Round 1: Thursday, Sept. 13th 2007, 14:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
   Peter Svidler
Alexander Morozevich 
   Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand 
   Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk 
   Peter Leko
Games – Report
Round 2: Friday, Sept. 14th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Peter Leko
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Games – Report
Round 3: Saturday, Sept. 15th 2007, 14:00h
Alexander Morozevich 
 
 Peter Svidler
Viswanathan Anand 
 
 Vladimir Kramnik
Alexander Grischuk 
 
 Levon Aronian
Peter Leko 
 
 Boris Gelfand
Games – Report
Round 4: Sunday, Sept 16th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian 
 
 Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Morozevich 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Games – Report
Free day: Monday, Sept. 17th 2007
Round 5: Tuesday, Sept. 18th 2007, 14:00h
Viswanathan Anand 
 
 Peter Svidler
Alexander Grischuk 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Peter Leko 
 
 Vladimir Kramnik
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Levon Aronian
Games – Report
Round 6: Wednesday, Sept. 19th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Levon Aronian
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
 Boris Gelfand
Alexander Morozevich 
 
 Peter Leko
Viswanathan Anand 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Games – Report
Round 7: Thursday, Sept. 20th 2007, 14:00h
Alexander Grischuk 
 
 Peter Svidler
Peter Leko 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Levon Aronian 
 
 Vladimir Kramnik
Games – Report

Full Schedule and Results (second half)

Round 8: Friday, Sept. 21st 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Peter Leko 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Games – Report
Free day: Saturday, Sept. 22nd 2007
Round 9: Sunday, Sept. 23th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Leko
   Peter Svidler
Alexander Grischuk 
   Boris Gelfand
Viswanathan Anand 
   Levon Aronian
Alexander Morozevich 
   Vladimir Kramnik
Games – Report
Round 10: Monay, Sept. 24th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Levon Aronian 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Peter Leko
Games – Report
Round 11: Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, 14:00h
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Peter Svidler
Peter Leko 
 
 Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk 
 
 Vladimir Kramnik
Viswanathan Anand 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Games – Report
Free day: Wednesday, Sept. 26th 2007
Round 12: Thursday, Sept 27th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Alexander Morozevich 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
 Peter Leko
Levon Aronian 
 
 Boris Gelfand
Games – Report
Round 13: Friday, Sept. 28th 2007, 14:00h
Levon Aronian 
 
 Peter Svidler
Boris Gelfand 
 
 Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko 
 
 Alexander Morozevich
Alexander Grischuk 
 
 Viswanathan Anand
Games – Report
Round 14: Saturday, Sept. 29th 2007, 14:00h
Peter Svidler 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
Viswanathan Anand 
 
 Peter Leko
Alexander Morozevich 
 
 Boris Gelfand
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
 Levon Aronian
Games – Report

Sunday, Sept. 30th 2007

Possible tiebreaks, closing ceremony


Live coverage by Yasser Seirawan on Playchess


Playchess commentator GM Yasser Seirawan

The games of the World Championship 2007, which start at 14:00h local time (check the time in your location here), will be broadcast live on the official site and on Playchess.com server, where there will be daily live audio commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, with a minimum of three one hour lectures per round, beginning approximately thirty minutes after play has started. For a charge of ten Ducats (about one Euro) a visitor gets a twelve hour pass to listen to the live lectures.

Ducats are the currency used on Playchess.com. You can purchase Ducats here. The amount will be credited to your playchess.com account. You need to allow one working day for processing. If you want your Ducats immediately you can order them using our Click&Buy service. Ducats can also be used to buy ChessBase products. Note that you can also purchase Ducats directly from Fritz or the Playchess client using the menu "Edit – Payments – Fill up account". This takes you to a special purchase page with your account name automatically passed on, to simplify the process.

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