Chennai To Host World Chess Championships

World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand will clash with Israel’s Boris Galfind in the final of the 2012 World Chess Championship. This contest will be held in Chennai. This is the first time that that this championship is going to be hosted by India.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalitha has on Wednesday accepted the proposal to host the championship in Chennai in April or May next year, following her meeting with the chief of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), Mr. Kirsan Iliyumajinov. Hosting the tournament is expected to cost about 20 crore rupees to the exchequer.

Anand and Galfind are expected to fight 12 rounds. The one who wins the most number of rounds will be proclaimed the World Champion. In 2010, Anand had defeated Bulgaria’s Veselyn Topalov in Bulgaria by 6.5-5.5 to win the title. Now he will be defending his title against 43-year-old Galfind, who had earned eligibility for the World Championship final by winning the Candidates tournament.

India is seventh in the world chess rankings. 24 chess players from India are grandmasters of whom 10 are from Tamil Nadu.