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Sofia, 23rd April
World Chess Championship matches have always had a special flavor when they are contested by players who have held the title at one time or the other. The World Chess Championship 2010 at Sofia which starts on Saturday 24th April, a day later than originally scheduled, has reigning Champion Viswanathan Anand of India taking on Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
NIIT MindChampion Anand has won the title on three occasions in 2000, 2007 and 2008 while Topalov was the winner in 2005. The Match will consist of 12 games and the first player to score 6.5 points will be the winner. In case the scores are equal at 6-6, four tie-break games will be played in the Rapid format on 13th May.
The first game is scheduled for Saturday 24th April and will start at 16:00h CEST (7.30 p.m. Indian time), a delayed start of two hours while the remaining games will start at 5.30 pm IST. 40-year-old Anand will start his campaign with the black pieces, just like in Bonn in 2008, where he defeated Vladimir Kramnik for the title. Anand will play with the white pieces in game 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 11. A rest day is scheduled after every two games.
| Day | Date | Start of game | Indian time |
| Saturday | April 24 | 16:00h CEST | 19:30h IST |
| Sunday | April 25 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Monday | April 26 | Free day | |
| Tuesday | April 27 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Wednesday | April 28 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Thursday | April 29 | Free day | |
| Friday | April 30 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Saturday | May 01 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Sunday | May 02 | Free day | |
| Monday | May 03 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Tuesday | May 04 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Wednesday | May 05 | Free day | |
| Thursday | May 06 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Friday | May 07 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Saturday | May 08 | Free day | |
| Sunday | May 09 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Monday | May 10 | Free day | |
| Tuesday | May 11 | 14:00h CEST | 17:30h IST |
| Wednesday | May 12 | Free day | |
| Thursday | May 13 | Tiebreaks |
The prize fund is 2,000,000 Euros (around 120 million Indian Rupees), the highest ever in recent times and will be shared by the two players. Pananqiotis Nikolopoulos of Greece is the chief arbiter.
The match is expected to be evenly contested and promises to be exciting considering the playing style of both players. These players have met each other 44 times, with Topalov winning 11 times, Anand 10 times and 23 games have ended in draws. Both players are reputed for their intensive preparation and it is this aspect which will be watched keenly by chess enthusiasts.
In terms of Match experience, Anand is a favourite and showed sparkling form in Germany in 2008 against Kramnik. Topalov on the other hand had lost to Kramnik in the reunification match in 2006. Going by age, Topalov is younger than Anand by five years and has the advantage of playing in his home country.
This is a short biographical film on the great achievments of grandmaster
Viswanathan
Anand who created history by winning World Chess Champions title in all the
three
format of the game, knock-out, round robin and match play.
Anand is a complete player with a vast opening repertoire, and his ability to adapt to the situation on board is his major strength. Topalov on the other hand is known for taking major risks and is reputed for making strong comebacks in the last half of the tournaments.
In a recent interview Anand commented on his opponent: “Topalov as an opponent is very demanding, as he shows a lot of energy on the board and is able to squeeze a position to its maximum. He is a tenacious and tireless fighter and has played some great events like San Luis 2005”.
Topalov too in an interview commented on Anand, “Anand is one of the greatest talents in the history of chess. He is now forty, and half of that time he has been one of the strongest players in the world”.
Most chess blogs, servers and news sites have announced live coverage of the event.
NIIT
MindChampions’ AcademyThe NIIT MindChampions’ Academy (MCA), a not-for-profit initiative has been set up as a joint initiative with Grand Master Viswanathan Anand and NIIT Ltd, with the objective of promoting Chess in schools to enable development of young minds. Studies have shown that Chess improves concentration and diligence, thus helping students perform better academically.
Established in 2002, the Academy has fostered over 7000 Chess clubs with over 8,50,000 students as its members, in schools across the country. GM Viswanathan Anand has personally traveled to Agartala, Guwahati, Hyderbad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Jaipur, Patna, Raipur, Chennai, Hyderbad, Kolkata, Pune and other cities across India, spreading the message and motivating the school students to start playing Chess. NIIT Mind Champions’ Academy conducts an Annual Event around the month of December and January, known as Chess Master for these school children across India in the NIIT network.
Updates on Viswanathan Anand sent by Team Anand at NIIT. For further inquiries contact: TeamAnand@niit.com
