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)

Anand Reigns Supreme - Retains World Number 1!

The World Chess Champion Vishy Anand of India retained his World No:1 ranking, despite playing any rated game in the last 2 months, in the FIDE May 2011 List! Anand stays where he had seen himself in the February 2011 FIDE List, ie @ 2817!

Among the top players above 2770 only the mighty Ukranian Vasily Ivanchuk has played any rated games in the last 2 months. Playing 9 games in the last 2 months the gusty Ukranian maintained his 5th position intact, just ahead of Sergie Karjakin of Russia, who also has 2776 points as does Ivanchuk!

FIDE MAY 2011 TOP 40 : ABOVE 2700!

Rank-----Name -------------Title ----Country ----Rating---Games---B-Year
1 -- Viswanathan Anand .....g ------- IND ------2817 -----0 -----1969
2 ---Magnus Carlsen .......g --------NOR ------ 2815 -----0 -----1990
3 ---Levon Aronian ........g - -------ARM ------ 2808 -----0 -----1982
4----Vladimir Kramnik .....g --------RUS ------2785 -----0 -----1975
5 ---Vassily Ivanchuk .....g --------UKR ------2776 -----9 -----1969
6---Sergey Karjakin ........g --------RUS ------2776 -----0 -----1990
7---Veselin Topalov ........g --------BUL -------2775 ----0 -----1975
8-- Hikaru Nakamura,.......g --------USA -------2774 ----0------1987
9--Shakhriyar Mamedyarov....g --------AZE -------2772 ----0 -----1985
10-Vugar Gashimov..... .....g --------AZE -------2760 ----6 -----1986
11.Ruslan Ponomariov .......g --------UKR -------2754 ----10-----1983
12-Alexander Grischuk.......g -------- RUS -------2747-----0------1983
13 Teimour Radjabov.........g --------AZE -------2744 ----0------1987
14 Peter Svidler. ..........g --------RUS -------2739 ----28-----1976
15 Nikita Vitiugov.........g --------RUS -------2733 ----31 ----1987
16 Boris Gelfand ...........g --------ISR -------2733 ---- 4 ----1968
17.Dmitry Jakovenko.........g --------RUS -------2732 ----20-----1983
18 Gata Kamsky.. .. ........g --------USA -------2732 -----7 ----1974
19 Wang Hao ................g --------CHN -------2732 -----6 ----1989
20 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave...g --------FRA -------2731 -----5 ----1990
21 Leinier Dominguez Perez..g ---------CUB -------2726 ----12 ----1983
22 Michael Adams ...........g ---------ENG -------2726 ---- 9-----1971
23 Francisco Vallejo Pons...g --------ESP -------2722 -----30 ---1982
24 Radoslaw Wojtaszek.......g --------POL --------2721 -----22----1987
25 Zoltan Almasi ...........g ---------HUN --------2719 ---- 0 ----1976
26 Peter Leko ..............g ---------HUN --------2717-----0 ----1979
27 Arkadij Naiditsch........g --------GER ---------2716 ----35 ---1985
28 Fabiano Caruana .........g --------ITA ---------2714-----21----1992
29 Wang Yue ................g --------CHN --------2714 ----11----1987
30 Eljanov Pavel ...........g --------UKR ---------2712 ----14 ---1983
31 Ian Nepomniachtchi .....g -------- RUS ---------2711 ----20----1990
32 Alexei Shirov ...........g -------- ESP --------2709 -----6 ---1972
33 Evgeny Tomashevsky.......g --------RUS----------2707-----10----1987
34 Etienne Bacrot ..........g --------FRA----------2705 -----21----1983
35 Sergei Movsesian.........g --------ARM----------2705 -----20 ---1978
36 Jobava Baadur ...........g --------GEO----------2704 -----11----1983
37 Vladimir Malakhov........g --------RUS--------- 2704 -----10 ---1980
38 Aleksey Dreev ...........g --------RUS----------2703------19----1969
39 David Navara.............g --------CZE----------2702 -----24----1985
40 Zahar Efimenko ..........g --------UKR----------2701------20----1985

FIDE May 2011 Rating List (Top Women)

Rank ------Name ------------------Title -Country ---Rating-- Games--B-Year
1 -------Judit Polgar .............g -----HUN -------2699-----11 ----1976
2 ------ Koneru Humpy .............g -----IND ------2614-----11 ----1987
3 ------Yifan Hou ................g -----CHN ------2612-----20 ----1994
4 -------Nadezhda Kosintseva.......m -----RUS ------2567 ---- 0 ----1985
5 -------Tatiana Kosintseva........g -----RUS ------2559------0 ----1986
6 ------Nana Dzagnidze............g -----GEO ------2557 -----11 ---1987
7 ------Anna Zatonskih............m -----USA ------2537------27----1978
8 ------Anna Muzychuk ............m -----SLO ------2537------20 ---1990
9 ------Kateryna Lahno............g ----- UKR -----2530----- 10 ---1989

WORLD TOP 100 CLUB HERE!