The World Champion in 1999, Russian Alexander Khalifman, had to be admitted in a hospital in Russia, exactly at the time it was scheduled to travel to Vitoria to participate in the Champions' League Chess Tournament. According to the official site, Alexander Khalifman is waiting to be operated on in the next few hours. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Alexander Khalifman will be replaced by the Grand Master of Romania and European Champion in 2005, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, who currently finalizing its preparations to join the tournament. His game from the first round against the Uzbek Rustam Kasimdzhanov is postponed to a the days of rest.

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