Chennai to host 2012 World Chess Championship

Holder Viswanathan Anand will clash with Boris Gelfand of Israel for the 2012 World Chess Championship title, which will be held in India for the first time.

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has accepted a proposal to conduct the event either in April or May next year during a meeting with World Chess Federation (FIDE) president Kirsan Illyumzhinov in Chennai on Wednesday.

This is the first time that India would be hosting the prestigious tournament, which would be held at a cost of around Rs 20 crore, a state government release said. 

During the meeting, Illyumzhinov mooted the proposal to conduct the games in Chennai to which the Jayalalithaa agreed, the release added. 

India is ranked seventh in the world, and of the 24 granmasters in the country, 10 are from Tamil Nadu.