Viswanathan Anand will start his campaign with white pieces against Boris Gelfand of Israel in the opener of the World Chess Championship at Sheraton Centro Histrico Hotel in Mexico City.
Anand, rated number one in the world since April 2007, starts as a big favourite against Gelfand who is the lowest ranked player in the eight-player double round robin event.
The Indian ace will be looking forward to a positive opening in this super event played under category-21 according to FIDE charts. He is up against a tough field and will try to improve upon his second place in last such tournament that was played at San Luis in Argentina in 2005.
The other pairings of the first round are quite interesting as second seed and reigning world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia is pitted against compatriot Peter Svidler who will play with whites.
Svidler, who had been working hard for the event in recent times would be a tough nut to crack and the pundits predict a drawn result without much ado.
The game to watch out in the opener will be between Levon Aronian of Armenia and Alexander Morozevich of Russia. The latter, tipped as the most original player of the championship will play with black pieces and the chess buffs can expect a wild battle with Aronian out to take initiative early.
The other contest is between Peter Leko of Hungary and Alexandre Grishchuk of Russia and again a keen tussle looks much on cards as Leko is likely to press hard for the win against his lower ranked opponent. However, given Grishchuk's penchant for complicated positions, an upset is not ruled out.
The event was inaugurated in a gala ceremony and it will be an exciting contest between the world elite for the ultimate title according to most of the experts. While Anand starts favourite, Kramnik, Aronian and Leko are also strong contenders for the world title.
Pairings round 1: Viswanathan Anand (Ind) v/s Boris Gelfand (Isr); Peter Svidler (Rus) v/s Vladimir Kramnik (Rus); Peter Leko (Hun) v/s Alexander Grishchuk (Rus); Levon Aronian (Arm) v/s Alexander Morozevich (Rus).