A unification match-tournament of the strongest chess players for the world champion title will take place in October of this year, stated the president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), head of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, reports Interfax.
According to Ilyumzhinov, the corresponding decision was made at a meeting of the FIDE Presidential Council that took place last Sunday in Tbilisi. "Invitations to participate in the unification match will be sent to FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov and vice-champion Michael Adams, as well as the Brain Games world champion Vladimir Kramnik and world vice-champion Peter Leko," said Ilyumzhinov.
In addition, four of the strongest chess players in the world by rating are invited to the double round-robin match-tournament – Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov and Alexander Morozevich. "By April 15, official contracts will be sent to all participants; if someone refuses, the next one by rating will play," added the FIDE president.
According to Ilyumzhinov, the tournament's prize fund will be 500 thousand dollars. A tender for the right to host the chess match has also been announced. "To begin with, I made a proposal to hold the tournament in Elista; Singapore, Armenia and Georgia have also expressed a desire to host this competition," noted the FIDE president.