Anand to defend world title in Chennai

Chennai: Chennai will host the World Chess Championship title match between defending champion Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand of Israel in April-May next year.

Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has assured Tamil Nadu government's support for the high-profile match.

According to an official statement here on Wednesday, World Chess Federation president Kirsan Illyumzhinov met the chief minister.

The nature or extent of government support for the best-of-12 match series with a projected expenditure of Rs 20 crores could not be ascertained.

Anand had won the title in 2010 defeating Vaselin Topalov 6.5-5.5 in Bulgaria and will be defending the crown against the 43-year old Gelfand, who qualified by winning the Candidates Tournament.