The Dortmund Super Grandmaster Chess tournament will begin with a bang on Saturday with the clash of the titans taking place in the first round.
Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, the world number one, will take on world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the opener to be played at the Dortmund Civic Theatre.
The category-20 event boasts of an average rating of ELO 2727 making it one of the strongest events to be held this year.
Eight grandmasters will battle over a period of nine days in this Super GM tournament, to be played in a seven round all-play-all format.
The players are from seven countries, Russia being the only country with more than one entrant.
Anand will look to consolidate his position at the top of the ratings list by adding another title to his already impressive collection.
Anand had won the Dortmund chess tournament in 2004, when it was played in a knock-out format, by beating Kramnik in the finals.
However, it is Kramnik who has the more formidable record in Dortmund, which has always been his favourite hunting ground. Kramnik has won the tournament seven times over the years. He will be keen to replicate his memories of the past when he sits down to play the first game on Saturday.
16-year-old Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen will be another star attraction of the tournament. This year, Carlsen has broken through into the group of the world's top grandmasters and has already participated in a few Super GM tournaments. Carlsen's rating of ELO 2693 is only marginally short of the magic figure of 2700 and he is expected to cross that milestone soon. Rated sixth among the eight participants, his recent exploits show that he is capable of doing better than his ranking.
Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamederov of Azerbaijan has risen rapidly through the ranks and is currently rated 6th in the world. He has been consistently successful in recent months and is the third seed in this tournament. He will be a tough rival for the two favourites.
Peter Leko (Hungary) and Boris Gelfand (Israel), ranked 9th and 12th in the world respectively, are seasoned campaigners.
They have been top players in the world for more than a decade and have proved that they can beat anyone on their day. Leko is a past winner, having won the event in 1999 and in 2002.
Russian Grandmaster Evgeny Alexeev has qualified for the Dortmund Super GM tournament by winning the Aeroflot open, earlier this year.
This will be his first experience in such an exalted field and he will be hoping to show that he can hold his own against the best in the world.
The lowest rated player in the tournament, German Grandmaster Arkadi Naiditsh, is ranked 52nd in the world with a rating of 2654. He created a sensation here in 2005 by winning the event ahead of such luminaries as Kramnik and Topalov.
Pairing for round 1: Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) Viswanathan Anand (Ind); Boris Gelfand (Israel) Evgeny Alexeev (Russia); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze) Arkadij Naiditsch (Ger); Magnus Carlsen (Nor) Peter Leko (Hun).
