Grand Slam Masters Final starts today - pairings and poll

This year's Grand Slam Masters Final includes the world's top 3 players and starts today in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first round pairings are Nakamura-Ivanchuk, Anand-Carlsen and Aronian-Vallejo. Who do you think will win?

The six participants together with the mayor of Sao Paulo

The 4th edition of the Grand Slam Masters Final runs from September 25th until October 11th and will be played in two different venues. The first five rounds of this double round-robin event will be played in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 25th of September to 1st of October, and the second leg will be played in Bilbao, Spain from 6th to 11th of October. In both venues, the Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo and the Bilbao Alhóndiga, the traditional big class cube will be installed, inside which Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Levon Aronian, Vassily Ivanchuk, Hikaru Nakamura and Paco Vallejo will play a double round-robin.

The tournament was officially opened on Sunday, September 25th in the Sao Paulo Ibirapuera Park, a major urban park. The Parque Ibirapuera has a large area for leisure, jogging and walking, as well as a convention center. Inaugurated in 1954 for the 400th anniversary of the city, with buildings designed by famous architect Oscar Niemeyer and landscape by designer Roberto Burle Marx, Ibirapuera Park covers an area of almost 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi). It is the second biggest park in the city. The park complex contains several buildings, including the Grande Marquise (home of the Modern Art Museum), the Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion (until 1992 the city hall) and the Cicillo Matarazzo Pavilion (home for the Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Sao Paulo, and a space for events and expos, including the Sao Paulo Art Biennial and the Sao Paulo Fashion Week).

The ceremony was chaired by the prefect (mayor) of the city, Gilberto Kassab, who highlighted the importance of the chess event as a platform to attract other sporting events to Sao Paulo. A Basque business delegation was also present at the ceremony, and of course the organizers from Bilbao, headed by the tournament's general coordinator, Andoni Madariaga. In a huge tent, a first social contact between Basque and Brazilian business people took place.

World Champion Vishy Anand and Sao Paulo mayor Gilberto Kassab shake hands, IM Herman van Riemsdijk on the left

Grand Slam Masters Final 2011 | Schedule & pairings

The rate of play will be 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 seconds increment per move from move number 41. Players are not allowed to agree to a draw without the arbiter’s permission. In case both players request it to him, the arbiter will make his decision after consulting with the technical assistant: GM Jose Luis Fernandez. The football scoring system will be used: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a loss.

The first round starts today at 15:00 local time, which is 20:00 Central European Time. Who do you think will win?