16 Grandmasters in qualifiers for World Championship

Moscow, Jan 16 (UNI) Former World Cup winner Levon Aronian and Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Leko will be among the top contenders in the Candidates Matches starting May 26 to decide the four qualifiers for the World Championship in Mexico.

The two-round event will be held in Elista here and will be played until June 14, featuring 16 Grandmasters.

The top four finishers will join defending World Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Granmasters Viswanathan Anand of India and Russians Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich in the Championship slated for September 11 to October 1.

Anand, Svidler and Morozevich have already qualified from the previous World Championships.

The Candidates Matches has a prize fund of 40,000 dollar per match with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov contributing a major amount.

''The prize fund for each match of both rounds will be USD 40,000. I shall personally contribute 320,000 USD towards the total prize fund and a further USD 160,000 will be contributed by FIDE,'' Ilyumzhinov said in a statement.

The 16 Grandmasters: Levon Aronian (ARM), Peter Leko (HUN), Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR), Boris Gelfand (ISR), Etienne Bacrot (FRA), Alexander Grischuk (RUS), Judith Polgar (HUN), Alexei Shirov (ESP), Michael Adams (ENG), Evgeny Bareev (RUS), Vladimir Malakhov (RUS), Gata Kamsky (USA), Rustam Kasimjanov (UZB), Sergei Rublevsky (RUS), Mikhail Gurevich (TUR), Magnus Carlsen (NOR) Schedule of the Candidates Matches Match 1 May 26 Opening ceremony May 27 Game 1 May 28 Game 2 May 29 Game 3 May 30 Rest day May 31 Game 4 June 1 Game 5 June 2 Game 6 June 3 Tie breaks Match 2 June 6 Game 1 June 7 Game 2 June 8 Game 3 June 9 Rest day June 10 Game 4 June 11 Game 5 June 12 Game 6 June 13 Tie breaks June 14 Closing Ceremony UNI