India's Viswanathan Anand, the current World number 2, will lead the Rest of the World team against Armenia in a chess match, being held to mark the 75th birth anniversary of late Armenian world champion Tigran Petrosian.
The match, starting in Moscow on Thursday, will be a six-player team tournament where each player faces all the members of the opposing team.
The World team is expected to include Michael Adams, Peter Svidler, Loek Van Wely, Etienne Bacrot and Paco Vallejo.
A couple of years ago, Anand led the World team to victory over the strong Russia in an epic match in Moscow.
The Armenian team includes World No. 1 Garry Kasparov and will have members who are either Armenian or have an Armenian connection. The three Armenians in the six-member team are
Vladimir Akopian, Smbat Lputian and Rafael Vaganian while others are Kasparov (whose mother is Armenian), Hungarian Peter Leko (whose wife is Armenian) and Israeli Boris Gelfand, who was the most famous pupil of Tigran Petrosian and learnt the game from the master between 1980-83.
"It is a very interesting event. I enjoyed the match between Russia and Rest of the World, and I hope this will be a similar pleasant experience," said Anand, who has already arrived in Moscow, in a statement.
"Playing In Moscow is always a treat. I remember playing in the Kremlin in 2001 against Tkachiev and the crowd start clapping when I played Qb3. To be recognized in the Russian heartland for your chess is a matter of pride."
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