The World Chess Championship Mexico-2007 featuring eight chess Grand Masters (GM), including world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, also started on Thursday an on-site computer 10-game match facing two top chess computer programs, Rybka and Zappa.

Kramnik said on Wednesday that computers are stronger than human beings. It is not necessary to match human beings against computers.

Armenian GM Levon Aronian said "our opening preparation is better than the computers'."

From September 20-27, Rybka chess program, World Computer Chess Champion-2007 will play against Zappa, World Computer Chess Champion 2005, and vice champion in 2007.

Fans are invited to watch the match free of charge at the site, while they must pay 300 Mexican pesos (some 30 U.S. dollars) to watch the world's best players face each other.

The first computer match game (Ruy Lopez opening) on Thursday ended in a 73-move draw. The computer games start at 10:00 local time and can also be seen through internet.

Both programs are well-known worldwide and head the rating-lists of all independent agencies of chess programs. The match will consist of 10 games, with a 60-minute per game plus 20 seconds per move time control.

The schedule of the games is from September 20 to 27 in Hotel Centro Historico Sheraton in Mexico City.

The match will be played on two identical 8-cores computers with a prize fund of US$10,000.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2007)