Moscow: Current world champion Viswanathan Anand of India will be up against Boris Gelfand of Israel in the World Chess Championship, starting in Moscow from Friday.
The $2.55 million championship will see 12 games to be played from May 11 to 28, with a playoff on May 30, if required.
Anand is the defending champion, having held the title since 2007. He last defended his title by winning the 2010 event against Veselin Topalov. Gelfand, meanwhile, has won the recognition of playing against Anand after winning the eight-player Candidates tournament.
Anand, who holds a 6-5 overall record against Gelfand, has an unbeaten record since the Biel IZT in 1993. The Indian has been in fine form, winning the Leon tournament, the Botvinnik Memorial and the Corsica Masters Knockout in 2011.
However, Indian Grand Master Surya Sekhar Ganguly said it would not be an easy tournament for Anand. "A great positional player, Gelfand is among the top players of the world for last 10 years or so. It will be foolish to underestimate him. He will give his 100 percent," said Ganguly of Gelfand.
Ganguly, who is Anand's second in the four-member team, also pointed out that as this would be the Israeli's first shot at the championship, Gelfand would be highly motivated to prove a point.
"He is a classical player with a deep knowledge of the game. His playing style is very traditional, very typical of the Soviet mindset. But the way he reads a game is simply outstanding."
Ganguly also described Anand as someone, despite being the world champion four times, is always open to learning. "The biggest quality of Anand is he never stops learning. He has been four-time world champion, but he can still motivate himself pretty well," he said.
"He is always open to suggestions. As a second [member of the team], I have different responsibilities. I have to give him new ideas about the opening move. It is a very intricate process of research and development. I have learned a lot of things from him during this period," Ganguly said.
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