Good morning everyone! Just a few bits of chess news to share with you all today on the Holiday Eve. There have been a few things that I have been keeping tabs on in the world of chess and I'd like to share with them with you here for those who might not know where to go or don't have the time to read them all.

   First off, on chessdom.com and chessbase.com, it's been reported that the May 2011 Kazan Candidate Match Tournament has now been finalized as the players have signed their contracts. As expected, Super GM Magnus Carlsen is not participating in the tournament because he does not like the way the FIDE Championship Cycle is set up. Alexander Grischuk is now officially Mags' replacement.

   Here is the list of the 8 players that will play for a chance to meet World Champion Vishy Anand in 2012:

1. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, runner up of the previous World Championship)

2. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, qualified by rating)

3. Levon Aronian (Armenia, winner of the FIDE Grand-Prix 2008-2009)

4. Boris Gelfand (Israel, winner of the FIDE World Cup 2009)

5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, wild card)

6. Alexander Grischuk (Russia, qualification from the FIDE Grand-Prix)

7. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan, qualification from the FIDE Grand-Prix)

8. Gata Kamsky (USA, runner up of the Challengers Match 2009)

   And here are the pairings for the initial round of the contest:

    Topalov - Kamsky (no change)
    Kramnik - Radjabov
    Aronian - Grischuk
    Gelfand - Mamedyarov

   To learn and read more about this, follow this link here. 

   The other thing I want to mention, for those of you that have been following it or are merely curious, the Women's World Chess Championship tie-breakers are happening right now live in Turkey and are being broadcasted with a Live video feed here. 

   The two participants, 23 year old WGM Lufei Ruan and 16 year old GM Yifan Hou, have outlasted a field of 64 to get to this final matchup. It should be a great end to an almost one month long grueling schedule.

   That's it for now everyone. Enjoy the Holidays wherever you are. Be safe, warm, and happy.

   -Mark

Appreciate that Live feed Mark:)

Mark, you definitely stay on top of things! :)

Levon Aronian will be Vishy's next opponent, book it 

Wow, jps! What a great link! Thank you :)