Topalov and Kramnik Have Arrived in Elista for World Chess Championship

Veselin Topalov (Left) and Vladimir Kramnik 

Grandmaster Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik of Russia arrived in Elista by charter together with their delegations for the forthcoming World Championship Match. They were met at the airport by the leadership of the Republic of Kalmykia, journalists and chess fans.

Two players, two titles. But in chess city there can be only one winner

From Tony Halpin in Kalmykia

AS DIRECT descendants of Genghis Khan, the people of Kalmykia can be expected to have an appreciation of the finer points of battle. Now their tiny southern Russian republic is to be the arena for settling one of the most bitterly divisive conflicts in the world of chess.

In what is regarded as the most important match for 13 years, Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik will face each other across a board for the right to be undisputed world chess champion.

The match in Elista, the capital of Europe’s only Buddhist nation, will end a 13-year split in the game that has produced rival claims to the title. The grandmasters, both 31, will slug it out over 12 games in the chess equivalent of a heavyweight boxing contest to create a unified world champion.

See World Chess 2006 for Reports and Photos: www.worldchess2006.com 

Read Times Online in depth report: www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2362769,00.html