World Chess Championship

The World Chess Championship is coming to New York.

The WCC, a one-on-one match administered by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), will be played in New York City this upcoming November, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Magnus Carlsen, the highest ranked player in history who defended his title against India’s Viswanathan Anand in 2014, will play against a to-be-determined challenger from November 10 to November 30.

As for finding the challenger, eight of the world’s best players (excluding Carlsen) will meet in Moscow to compete in the forthcoming Candidates Tournament, a double round robin bracket, to determine who will play against the 25-year-old Norwegian.

Wikimedia

Among the eight are US Grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. If either of them win in Moscow, they’ll have the chance to become the first American world champion since Bobby Fischer in the 1970s.

The other six Grandmasters in this year’s Candidates Tournament are Peter Svidler and Sergey Karjiakin of Russia, Anand from India, Veselin Topalov from Bulgaria, Anish Giri from the Netherlands and Levon Aronian from Armenia, according to Chess News.

This is the first time in 21 years that the world champion in chess will be crowned on American soil.

Back in 1995, Garry Kasparvov beat Anand in a 20-game match on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center.

As for where exactly in New York the event will be held, the CEO of Agon, the commercial partner of FIDE and organizer of the WCC, told the WSJ that he is in discussions with several NY venues, including the World Trade Center.