Pawn Promotions

The Gateway to Global Chess

2007 FIDE World Chess Championship

Viswanathan Anand has won the FIDE World Championship in Mexico City. His score of 9 points out of 14 rounds positioned him a full point ahead of the former World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, and Boris Gelfand who tied for second place.

The final standings are:
1. Vishwanathan Anand - 9 points.
2. Vladimir Kramnik - 8 points
3. Boris Gelfand - 8 points
4. Peter Leko - 7 points
5. Peter Svidler - 6.5 points
6. Alexander Morozevich - 6 points
7. Levon Aronian - 6 points
8. Alexander Grischuk - 5.5 points 

Anand was the only undefeated player in the 8-man double round.

The participants qualified by two methods:
The top four players from the 2005 World Championship, held in San Luis, Argentina, qualified for this tournament.  However, Veselin Topalov who won that tournament and was named FIDE World Chess Champion was replaced by Vladimir Kramnik after Topalov lost his unification 2006 World Championship match to Kramnik.
The remaining four players qualified from the Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Chess Championship tournament held in Elista, Russia. Sixteen players played a series of two six round matches to determine who would qualify to fill the four available spaces.

The qualifiers from the 2005 World Championship:
Vladimir Kramnik
Viswanathan Anand
Peter Svidler
Alexander Morozevich

The qualifiers from the Candidates Matches
Peter Leko
Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk 

According to the contract Anand signed with FIDE he will defend his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. 

Meanwhile, Topalov will play a match against the winner of the World Chess Cup, which is scheduled to be played in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, later this year. (see the article on the World Chess Cup).  The winners of those matches will then play a match to determine the champion.
In other words, no matter what happens in Mexico City, Kramnik will have a chance to retain the title, and Topalov, who is not playing in the World Cup, will get a chance to reclaim it.

Visit the official website of the 2007 World Chess Championship for more information.
Visit the official website of Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Chess Championship for a recap of that event.