After a long wait, the chess event of the year is nearly here: Viswanathan Anand vs. Vladimir Kramnik in a 12-game match to determine the World Chess Champion. The opening ceremony is Monday, and the first game is scheduled for Tuesday, 3 PM local time in Bonn, Germany (that's 9 AM Eastern US). The official site has complete coverage, including schedules, regulations, player background information and more.

Twelve games is rather short for a championship match, a far cry from the traditional 24 games (or more) that were customary throughout the 20th century. Perhaps the biggest problem with the match is the elimination of draw odds for the current champion (Anand); rather, a 6-6 tie will be broken by a 4-game mini-match of rapid games. A draw in the rapid portion will then give us the ridiculous situation of having the World Championship decided by blitz chess -- and a draw there would put us in the even less desirable position of having a World Champion decided by a single "Armageddon" tiebreak game. I don't think anyone truly believes these tiebreakers are the proper way of choosing the world's leading player.

Then again, we can cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let's just look forward to a few weeks of great chess and hope it doesn't come to tiebreaks. Fan polls seem to be evenly divided between Kramnik and Anand, and it's easy to see why: Anand has seemed like the stronger in recent years, while Kramnik has historically been a better match player.

Trying to come up with a prediction for this match has been difficult, and I've gone back and forth in my mind as to who I think has the better chances. The match feels pretty close to a toss-up to be honest, and I think most experts would agree that the match could easily go either way. That said, my instinct is to give a slight edge to Anand, the current champion. Disregarding his disastrous result in Bilbao (which seems fair, considering he was likely saving opening preparation for this match), he's been the stronger player as of late. Incidentally, his proficiency in rapid and blitz chess make him a heavy favorite should the match come down to the dreaded tiebreak games.

I predict Anand will win 6.5-5.5. What do you think? Post your predictions, or vote in the poll below. I'll be adding more coverage of the match after each game.

The Queens Pioneers drew the New Jersey Knockouts Monday night, clinching the first playoff spot in the US Chess League this season. At 5.5-1.5, the Pioneers cannot finish any lower than 4th in the Eastern Division, even if they lose their last 3 matches. The Carolina Cobras are also on the verge of clinching after a 3.5-0.5 drubbing of the Baltimore Kingfishers. Both the Cobras and the Knockouts are sitting at 4.5-2.5.

Out in the Western Division, the San Francisco Mechanics solidified their hold on first place with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Sluggers. However, the tightly packed West is still up for grabs, as the defending champion Dallas Destiny are just one game back. Behind them, there appears to be a three-team race between Miami, Chicago and Seattle for the last two playoff spots - although both Arizona and Tennessee retain faint playoff hopes.

Next week's biggest matches might be on Monday. The Miami Sharks take on the Dallas Destiny in a match which could all but secure a playoff birth for the winner, while Carolina battles New Jersey in what could be a preview of a first round playoff match. The Wednesday headliner is likely Seattle vs. Arizona, with both teams desperately needing a win to bolster their playoff hopes.

Rybka is clearly the top computer chess program around these days, and it comes as no surprise that the program won the 2008 World Computer Chess Championship. Rybka finished with a score of 8/9, a full point ahead of HIARCS, and two points ahead of Junior. The tournament was held in Beijing.

Rybka won 7 games and allowed just two draws with Black against Junior and the 4th-place finisher, ClusterToga. Junior actually had Rybka on the ropes, but missed a perpetual check that allowed Rybka to escape with the draw. Interestingly, both draws for the champion came in the slightly offbeat O'Kelly Variation of the Sicilian Defense.

It would have been shocking had Rybka not won the tournament, considering it not only leads every computer rating list, but was also running on the best hardware of any tournament program; I think it might be more sporting to provide each program with similar hardware as much as possible, even if this reduces the objective quality of the chess slightly. That said, it's hard to imagine that it would matter in this case.

What always fascinates me about computer chess is that even these superhuman machines still find ways to beat each other. Rybka didn't lose a game this tournament, but did have that one bad game against Junior, and has certainly been beat by other programs at other tournaments before. In any case, it's clear that even these programs aren't playing perfectly, or at least close enough to guarantee at least a draw in every game. How long will it be until we have a truly unbeatable chess machine?

Fresh off a victory in Bilbao, Topalov has taken the top spot on FIDE's October Ratings list. Alexander Morozevich is second, a point ahead of Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen.

It may surprise many chess fans to find Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik -- the two contestants in the upcoming World Championship match -- ranked 5th and 6th respectively. Two things to keep in mind:

• Anand and Kramnik may not be on top, but they are both within 20 points of the leader. Right now, there's a lot of parity at the top of chess.
• As has been mentioned by many commentators, it's likely that both players have been holding back on opening preparation, saving that instead for their match.

With such a tightly packed group, it shouldn't be a surprise if any of the top six are first on the next ratings list. That said, it seems only a matter of time before young Magnus Carlsen becomes the clear #1 player in the world, barring a sudden halt in his improvement.