All play, no work for Anand

It's the year's first tournament -- and it is a strong one, rated Category 19 and featuring all the top players in the world, including FIDE world champion Vishwanathan Anand, Brain Games Network champion Vladimir Kramnik, and world number one Garry Kasparov, the only one in the world at this point in time with an ELO rating of 2800+.

You would have thought, therefore, that the players would have spent weeks preparing for the supertournament. Not so, though -- Anand, following his world title win in late December at Teheran, has been relaxing at home in Chennai, catching up with his parents and his wife, occasionally dropping in to watch some tennis at the just concluded Golf Flake Open, and spending quality time just lazing and letting the stresses drain away.

BGN champion Vladimir Kramnik, too, hasn't played much chess after his October match against Kasparov, which he won to snatch the BGN world title. Kramnik however did play Peter Leko in a 12-match rapid chess exhibition contest between January 2-8, in Budapest, in a series sponsored by RWE Gas and won, 7-5. So, as preparations go, Kramnik has had more time at the board than Anand has in the last month or so.

Of the triumvirate ruling the chess world at this point, Kasparov thus would be the best prepared, having spent over a month with his seconds, preparing for the year's chess outings in general and for the Corus supertournament in particular.

Anand has no time to play his way in with a couple of easy games -- in the first round, he will face Michael Adams, the British grandmaster now ranked number four in the world. In fact, the Adams-Anand game is the stellar attraction on day one.

He then has a relatively easy game on Sunday, against Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands, before the faceoff against Kasparov on Tuesday, after a day's break. It will, thus, be interesting to see how quickly Anand can shrug off the lethargy of the last few weeks, and get back into prime form.

In passing, Anand has been named 'adopted son' of Collado Mediano, a small community of less than 5,000 located near Madrid. Anand has lived in Collado Mediano since 1995, and expects to continue there for the conceivable future.

This year, Corus will try out new time controls suggested by FIDE --which has been fixed at 120 minutes for the first 40 movies, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves. Each game will be played over a maximum of 6 hours and if it is not finished at this point, an extension of 30 minutes, maximum, will be allowed. There will be no bonus seconds for each move.

Anand, who enjoys the best rating, and reputation, when it comes to playing fast, is not entirely sanguine about the new time controls, but in his usual diplomatic fashion, does not condemn it outright, either. "There is," he said on arrival in Switzerland, "nothing wrong with trying fast time controls, but I don't think it should be done in a drastic, sudden, fashion."

Meanwhile, the organisers announced the pairings for the tournament that will be played out over 13 rounds. The blue riband rounds are Round 3, which will pair Anand against Kasparov; Round 5, when Kramnik and Kasparov face each other for the first time since the former toppled Kasparov; and Round 6, when Kramnik and Anand, each holding a world title, face off against each other. Follows, the full schedule:

Round 1: Leko-Fedorov; Shirov-Topalov; Piket-Morozevich; Timman-Kramnik; van Wely-Ivanchuk; Adams-Anand; Tiviakov-Kasparov

Round 2: Fedorov-Kasparov; Anand-Tiviakov; Ivanchuk-Adams; Kramnik-van Wely; Morozevich-Timman; Topalov-Piket; Leko-Shirov

Round 3: Shirov-Fedorov; Piket-Leko; Timman-Topalov; van Wely-Morozevich; Adams-Kramnik; Tiviakov-Ivanchuk; Kasparov-Anand

Round 4: Fedorov-Anand; Ivanchuk-Kasparov; Kramnik-Tiviakov; Morozevich-Adams; Topalov-van Wely; Leko-Timman; Shirov-Piket

Round 5: Piket-Fedorov; Timman-Shirov; van Wely-Leko; Adams-Topalov; Tiviakov-Morozevich; Kasparov-Kramnik; Anand-Ivanchuk.

Round 6: Fedorov-Ivanchuk; Kramnik-Anand; Morozevich-Kasparov; Topalov-Tiviakov; Leko-Adams; Shirov-van Wely; Piket-Timman

Round 7: Timman-Fedorov; van Wely-Piket; Adams-Shirov; Tiviakov-Leko; Kasparov-Topalov; Anand-Morozevich; Ivanchuk-Kramnik

Round 8: Fedorov-Kramnik; Morozevich-Ivanchuk; Topalov-Anand; Leko-Kasparov; Shirov-Tiviakov; Piket-Adams; Timman-van Wely

Round 9: van Wely - Fedorov; Adams-Timman; Tiviakov-Piket; Kasparov-Shirov; Anand-Leko; Ivanchuk-Topalov; Kramnik-Morozevich

Round 10: Fedorov-Morozevich; Topalov-Kramnik; Leko-Ivanchuk; Shirov-Anand; Piket-Kasparov; Timman-Tiviakov; van Wely-Adams

Round 11: Adams-Fedorov; Tiviakov-van Wely; Kasparov-Timman; Anand-Piket; Ivanchuk-Shirov; Kramnik-Leko; Morozevich-Topalov

Round 12: Fedorov-Topalov; Leko-Morozevich; Shirov-Kramnik; Piket-Ivanchuk; Timman-Anand; van Wely-Kasparov; Adams-Tiviakov

Round 13: Tiviakov-Fedorov; Kasparov-Adams; Anand-van Wely; Ivanchuk-Timman; Kramnik-Piket; Morozevich-Shirov; Topalov-Leko