Press release
December 19, 2007
World Chess Championship to be held in Germany: Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik battle for the highest chess title in October 2008
When: From October 11 – 30, 2008
Where: Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn
Overall Prize fund: 1.5 Million Euro
Patron: German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück
Main sponsor: Evonik Industries AG
Dortmund. The World Chess Championship will be held from October 11 to 30, 2008 in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn, between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia).
The match will consist of twelve games, played under classical time controls, in the period from October 11 to October 28, 2008. If there is a tie at the end of these games a tiebreak will be played on October 30, 2008. The prize fund, which will be split equally between the players, is 1.5 million Euro (approximately 2.1 million US Dollars) including taxes and FIDE licensee fees.
Viswanathan Anand (37) and Vladimir Kramnik (32) are the two outstanding personalities in chess today. The world championship match between them is keenly anticipated by chess fans all over the world. It is part of a 120-year tradition of chess history, which includes matches like Capablanca-Alekhine, Fischer-Spassky, Kasparov-Karpov and Kramnik-Topalov.
The reigning and undisputed World Champion Anand won his title in September 2007 at the World Championship tournament in Mexico City. Kramnik, who was undefeated in his three world championship matches, became second in this double round robin event.
The World Chess Championship 2008 takes place under the patronage of the German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, who is himself an enthusiastic and ambitious chess player.
The main sponsor of the World Championship is Evonik Industries. This industrial enterprise is located in Essen, Germany, and was the exclusive sponsor of the 2006 World Chess Challenge between Vladimir Kramnik and the chess program Deep Fritz.
The World Chess Championship 2008 in Bonn will be organized with the full cooperation of the World Chess Federation FIDE and it’s President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. FIDE has its main office in Athens, Greece, and is the head of 161 national chess federations with 40 million active chess players, making it one of the world’s largest sporting organizations.
The organizer of the World Championship 2008 is Universal Event Promotion (UEP), which is located in Dortmund (Germany) and has received all rights for the event from FIDE. UEP staged the World Chess Challenge between Vladimir Kramnik and the chess program Deep Fritz in 2006, an event that drew worldwide media attention and was very successfully commercialised.
Official World Championship web site of the organizer:
http://www.uep-worldchess.com/
Source: ChessBase
I thought since anand was world champ, he was supposed to have draw odds like every other world champion has had. How did Kramnik finagle that one?
Thank God they’ve sorted it all out. I really felt there could have been a repeat of the Kasparov shambles of the late ’90s.
My heart prays for Sicilians, my head says that every game will be a Semi-Slav.
I hope this means that both players have signed the contract.
I have wanted to see Anand play a match for the title since 1995. It has been too long a wait for Anand. He has been treated very unfairly in the the time period. It is only by winning in Mexico that he is given this opportunity to solidify an unify the title under his name.
I will be here cheering for Anand to win. Good luck to both players. I like Kramnik also and will enjoy the match. Both along with Kamsky deserve to be world champions.
With the modern clocks having time increments there might never be draw odds again. I suspect FIDE will always want a playoff.
All very well. However,just as in Kramnik – Leko,if Anand draws the match he should remain WCC. After all,if it comes down to it,where is the logic in deciding a twelve game classical match up with a couple of games of rapid chess? Incomprehensible. Remember, Anand drew a six game classical contest with Karpov but lost the rapids. Anand is always given the short end of the stick. Anyway I wish him the best.
Why in Bonn? Why not in Hamburg? At in the end why not in Kramnik’s house. Is Germany neutral place? This is funny. Better match be in Moskow.
Why in Bonn? Why not in Hamburg? At in the end why not in Kramnik’s house.
Kramnik lives in Paris.
“London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome – …” Are you thinking along this line?
Is Germany neutral place? This is funny. Better match be in Moskow.
Why not Guantanamo Bay?
Why only 12 games? The games are getting fewer with every match up!
They should have 14-16 games…
Susan can you please convey this to the sponsors and players and ask them to draw a fresh contract with more matches? thank you!
The golden age of chess matches is finished. The lottery effect increases every time.
>>
I thought since anand was world champ, he was supposed to have draw odds like every other world champion has had. How did Kramnik finagle that one?
>>
You’re quite mistaken there. Many champions have not had draw odds. And FIDE abolished them years ago, in favor of the Blitz and Rapid playoffs. Kramnik didn’t have them when he defended against Topalov either.
>>
However,just as in Kramnik – Leko,if Anand draws the match he should remain WCC.
>>
You’re asking for trouble. The whole thing tarnishing Anand’s title now is that he failed to beat his predecessor. Depriving him of the opportunity to do it again would be unnecessarily cruel, and would lead to him having people say he wasn’t the real champion forever. In the name of fairness to Anand, he has to actually win the match, even if it’s only in Rapids, to take the monkey off his title.
After all,if it comes down to it,where is the logic in deciding a twelve game classical match up with a couple of games of rapid chess? Incomprehensible. Remember, Anand drew a six game classical contest with Karpov but lost the rapids. Anand is always given the short end of the stick. Anyway I wish him the best.
All very well. However,just as in Kramnik – Leko,if Anand draws the match he should remain WCC.
Makes no sense. Kramnik succeeded in beating his predecessor, Anand failed. Besides, Kramnik-Leko wasn’t a FIDE match.
FIDE rules make more sense than deciding things on draw odds. An over-the-board result is always better than a tiebreak.
Anand lost his rapids to Karpov because Karpov was fully rested, while Anand was forced to play only a couple of days after the tournament ended.
Really your argument makes no sense. You’re saying that because Karpov DIDN’T get draw odds against Anand, that Anand should get them against Kramnik. As you say, Incomprehensible.
Why not Guantanamo Bay?
Dude, this humour is stupid. Bonn is neutral as Bombay…
I root for Anand , but I believe Kramnik is a solid defender, less error prone and prepares very well. Kramnik will beat Vishy in this one for sure !
“Dude, this humour is stupid. Bonn is neutral as Bombay…”
Well – it is neutral as both players do have equal connection to Germany I guess… At least Anand plays in German Bundesliga and Kramnik has a German manager – so at least much more neutral as Republic of Kalmykia.
Susan,
6. Bg5…what variation under Najdorf is it?
CN