World Chess Championship 2009

The World Chess Championship 2009 will be a match, between a champion and a challenger, held during the first half of 2009 to determine a new World Chess Champion. Four players are contending for the title:
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Determination of the champion

The champion will be the winner of the World Chess Championship 2008 (between current World Champion Viswanathan Anand, and former champion Vladimir Kramnik).

Determination of the challenger

The first qualification stage to select the 2009 challenger was the 2007 World Cup, won by Gata Kamsky.

Kamsky will face former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in a match of eight games, called the "Challenger Match". Topalov was given the special privilege of direct entry to this match because he was excluded from the World Chess Championship 2007. [ [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3948 Veselin Topalov and the new FIDE world championship cycle] , Chessbase, June 24 2007]

In June 2008, it was reported that the Challenger Match would begin on 28 November, 2008, in Lviv, Ukriane. [Polgar Blog Announcing Kamsky-Topalov Match Details http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/06/topalov-kamsky-match-starts-november-28.html] However in July it was reported that neither Topalov nor Kamsky had signed, [ [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4785 'Topalov has not signed' – Challenger Match in doubt?] Chessbase, July 25 2008] and there was no further progress by the end of September. [ [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4927 Bulgaria to Ilyumzhinov: we are worried] , Chessbase September 27, 2008]

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