World Chess Championship – opening ceremony today

The Opening Ceremony of the World Chess Championship took place this morning in Chennai, India.   As everyone knows, the challenger Magnus Carlsen (Norway) takes on the current champion Vishy Anand (India).

There are a number of websites available.

The Opening Ceremony and press conference can be viewed here.   The video broadcast is well worth watching, if only for the musical accompaniment and the Indian flavours.

The first match is on Saturday, when Carlsen will have the White pieces.   Live games can be viewed here on the official website.

There will be live streaming of the match on YouTube.

There will also be a live webcast on Russian TV.

If you can understand Norwegian, you could try this site too.

The playing schedule allows for two games on successive days, followed by a rest day.   This changes after Match 11, when there will be a further rest day before Match 12.   If tie-breaks are necessary, they will take place after a further rest day.

So these are the dates when matches are taking place:
Saturday 9
Sunday 10
Tuesday 12
Wednesday 13
Friday 15
Saturday 16
Monday 18
Tuesday 19
Thursday 21
Friday 22
Sunday 24
Tuesday 26

Tie-breaks and the closing ceremony will take place on Thursday 28 November.

Remember that the games start at 09.30 GMT, which is 15.00 in Chennai.