Anand starts favourite for World title in Mexico

Mexico City, Sept 12 (UNI) Indian Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand starts as favourite in World Chess Championships that gets underway here tomorrow.

Anand, who had won the FIDE Championships back in 2000, has won numerous other top titles in the world, but a world title in the current format is something he would like to add to the glittering cupboard of the World Number one.

He has been seeded top in the tournament which will see top eight players in the world sweating it out till September 30. The first four rounds will be played from September 13 to 16.

The tournament viewed as the strongest ever will be a double round robin with a prize fund of 1.3 million dollar.

The first of the three rest days will be on September 17 and the 14th and final round is scheduled for September 29 with September 30 being kept in case of a tie-break and closing ceremony.

Anand was one of the four Grandmasters to qualify directly for the finals together with Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich.

Lev Aronian needed to go through tough qualifications in Elista earlier this year. He beat Magnus Carlsen on his way to the final.

The other three who qualified were Peter Leko of Hungary, Boris Gelfand of Israel and Russian Alexander Grischuk.

Anand on his arrival in Mexico went directly to the playing hall, Hotel Sheraton Centro Historico.

Some players though had arrived as much as a week early to acclimatize themselves in Mexico, which is located at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,349 feet).

The Players Vishwanathan Anand (IND) ELO 2792; Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) ELO 2769; Alexander Morozevich (RUS) 2758; Peter Leko (HUN) ELO 2751; Levon Aronian (ARM) 2750; Peter Svidler (RUS) 2735; Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2733; Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2726; UNI