KAZAN CANDIDATES CHESS 2011!

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The fight for the spot to challenge the World Chess Champion from India GM Vishy Anand in 2012 started today, in Kazan, the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

The word 'KAZAN' is commonly believed to be coming from the Bulgarian (and also modern Tatar) word qazan, which means 'boiler' or 'cauldron'. Kazan is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. It is now a days (from April 2009) branded the "Third Capital" of Russia. In 2009 it was chosen as the "Sports Capital of Russia".The Kazan Kremlin is a World Heritage Site.

The Candidates matches 2011 are played at the modern hotel, shopping, and leisure complex Korston in Kazan. The playing area is the "Balnii" hall, a 1225 square meters uniform open space, with quality light facilities. Lately it has been one of the city's top places for celebrations, conferences, congresses, and shows. The capacity of the playing hall is about 600 to 700 people.

Candidates' Matches - The Participants:

1. Levon Aronian - 2808 (Armenia, winner of the FIDE Grand-Prix 2008-2009)

2. Vladimir Kramnik - 2785 (Russia, qualified by rating)

3. Veselin Topalov - 2775 (Bulgaria, runner up of the previous World Championship)

4. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - 2772 (Azerbaijan, wild card)

5. Alexander Grischuk - 2747 (Russia, qualification from the FIDE Grand-Prix; substitute due to the non-participation of Magnus Carlsen of Norway)

6. Teimour Radjabov - 2744 (Azerbaijan, qualification from the FIDE Grand-Prix)

7. Boris Gelfand - 2733 (Israel, winner of the FIDE World Cup 2009)

8. Gata Kamsky - 2732 (USA, runner up of the Challengers Match 2009).

Candidates' Matches - The Officials:

Chief Arbiter - Mr. Ignatius Leong

Deputy Chief Arbiter - Mrs. Franca Dapiran

Arbiter for 1st Round - Mr. Alexander McFarlane

Appeals Committee Chairman - Mr. Jorge Vega

Appeals Committee Member - Mr. Ilya Levitov

Appeals Committee Member - Mr. Nizar Elhaj

Medical Commission Chairperson - Dr. Jana Bellin

Press-officer of the Candidates Matches - Mr. Boris Kutin

The pairings for the 1st round of the Candidates Matches:

Topalov (BUL) - Kamsky (USA)

Kramnik (RUS) - Radjabov (AZE)

Aronian (ARM) - Grischuk (RUS)

Gelfand (ISR) - Mamedyarov (AZE)