Michael van Gerwen will begin his title defence on the opening night of the 2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship, with the schedule for darts' biggest event now confirmed.
The festive feast of darts kicks-off on Friday December 13, with former Alexandra Palace semi-finalist Jelle Klaasen and Kevin Burness taking to the stage for the event's opening tie.
The winner will return to the stage for the final game of the evening in a second round clash against three-time World Champion and world number one Van Gerwen, who is the 5/4 favourite to lift The Sid Waddell Trophy with title sponsor William Hill.
Sandwiched between those ties will be two first round meetings as newly-crowned World Youth Champion Luke Humphries faces South Africa's Devon Petersen, while Belgium's Kim Huybrechts comes up against Dutch youngster Geert Nentjes.
The first round of the 96-player tournament will be played across the opening 11 sessions, which will all also feature second round action.
Saturday December 14 will see former World Champion Rob Cross in action against Huybrechts or Nentjes, while legendary five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld begins his final PDC event against American veteran Darin Young.
The £2.5m event continues on Sunday December 15 with last year's runner-up Michael Smith in action, before Gary Anderson opens his bid for a third on Monday December 16.
Tuesday December 17 will see rising Dutch star Jeffrey de Zwaan face the winner of Van Barneveld v Young, while on Wednesday December 18 James Wade will meet either Ritchie Edhouse or Boris Koltsov.
The first round concludes on Thursday December 19 with a clash between last year's quarter-finalist Ryan Joyce and Jan Dekker, with Grand Slam of Darts champion Gerwyn Price also opening his challenge against William O'Connor or Marko Kantele.
The second round will draw to a close on Saturday December 21 as former World Youth Champion Dimitri Van den Bergh takes on either Josh Payne or Brazil's Diogo Portela on a night which also features Glen Durrant’s Alexandra Palace debut and opening games for Daryl Gurney and Mensur Suljovic.
The third round is split either side of the Christmas break, with the fourth round being played on December 27-28 ahead of the quarter-finals across two sessions on December 29.
The semi-finals on Monday December 30 will be followed by the final on Wednesday January 1 as sport's first World Champion of 2020 is crowned after 16 days and 28 sessions of action.
The 2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on the Sky Sports Darts channel and through NOW TV in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.
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2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship
Schedule of Play
Friday December 13 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jelle Klaasen v Kevin Burness (First Round)
Kim Huybrechts v Geert Nentjes (First Round)
Luke Humphries v Devon Petersen (First Round)
Michael van Gerwen v Klaasen/Burness (Second Round)
Saturday December 14
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Darius Labanauskas v Matthew Edgar (First Round)
Ryan Meikle v Yuki Yamada (First Round)
Luke Woodhouse v Paul Lim (First Round)
Jermaine Wattimena v Humphries/Petersen (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mark McGeeney v Matt Campbell (First Round)
Jamie Hughes v Zoran Lerchbacher (First Round)
Raymond van Barneveld v Darin Young (First Round)
Rob Cross v Huybrechts/Nentjes (Second Round)
Sunday December 15
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Kyle Anderson v Xiaochen Zong (First Round)
Ross Smith v Ciaran Teehan (First Round)
Brendan Dolan v Nitin Kumar (First Round)
Ian White v Labanauskas/Edgar (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Arron Monk v Jose Justicia (First Round)
Andy Boulton v Danny Baggish (First Round)
James Richardson v Mikuru Suzuki (First Round)
Michael Smith v Woodhouse/Lim (Second Round)
Monday December 16 (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Steve Lennon v Callan Rydz (First Round)
William O’Connor v Marko Kantele (First Round)
Vincent van der Voort v Keane Barry (First Round)
Gary Anderson v Dolan/Kumar (Second Round)
Tuesday December 17
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ryan Searle v Robbie King (First Round)
Cristo Reyes v Lourence Ilagan (First Round)
Rowby-John Rodriguez v Noel Malicdem (First Round)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Hughes/Lerchbacher (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ritchie Edhouse v Boris Koltsov (First Round)
Jose De Sousa v Damon Heta (First Round)
Ted Evetts v Fallon Sherrock (First Round)
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Van Barneveld/Young (Second Round)
Wednesday December 18
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Ron Meulenkamp v Ben Robb (First Round)
Mickey Mansell v Seigo Asada (First Round)
Harry Ward v Madars Razma (First Round)
Stephen Bunting v Monk/Justicia (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
James Wilson v Nico Kurz (First Round)
Josh Payne v Diogo Portela (First Round)
Gabriel Clemens v Benito van de Pas (First Round)
James Wade v Edhouse/Koltsov (Second Round)
Thursday December 19
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Justin Pipe v Benjamin Pratnemer (First Round)
Ryan Joyce v Jan Dekker (First Round)
John Henderson v Richardson/Suzuki (Second Round)
Steve Beaton v K Anderson/Zong (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Chris Dobey v Meulenkamp/Robb (Second Round)
Danny Noppert v Lennon/Rydz (Second Round)
Dave Chisnall v Van der Voort/Barry (Second Round)
Gerwyn Price v O’Connor/Kantele (Second Round)
Friday December 20
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Darren Webster v Meikle/Yamada (Second Round)
Mervyn King v R Smith/Teehan (Second Round)
Jonny Clayton v Joyce/Dekker (Second Round)
Ricky Evans v McGeeney/Campbell (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Nathan Aspinall v Boulton/Baggish (Second Round)
Joe Cullen v Wilson/Kurz (Second Round)
Max Hopp v Clemens/Van de Pas (Second Round)
Peter Wright v Rodriguez/Malicdem (Second Round)
Saturday December 21
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
4x Second Round
Keegan Brown v Mansell/Asada (Second Round)
Simon Whitlock v Ward/Razma (Second Round)
Steve West v Searle/R King (Second Round)
Adrian Lewis v Reyes/Ilagan (Second Round)
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
4x Second Round
Daryl Gurney v Pipe/Pratnemer (Second Round)
Glen Durrant v De Sousa/Heta (Second Round)
Mensur Suljovic v Evetts/Sherrock (Second Round)
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Payne/Portela (Second Round)
Sunday December 22
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Clayton/Joyce/Dekker v Bunting/Monk/Justicia
White/Labanauskas/Edgar v Hopp/Clemens/Van de Pas
Aspinall/Boulton/Baggish v Ratajski/Hughes/Lerchbacher
Evening Session (1900)
3x Third Round
Wade/Edhouse/Koltsov v Beaton/K Anderson/Zong
Cross/Huybrechts/Nentjes v Noppert/Lennon/Rydz
Van Gerwen/Klaasen/Burness v Evans/McGeeney/Campbell
Monday December 23
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Cullen/Wilson/Kurz v Wattimena/Humphries/Petersen
Lewis/Reyes/Ilagan v Webster/Meikle/Yamada
M Smith/Woodhouse/Lim v Van den Bergh/Payne/Portela
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Third Round
Chisnall/Van der Voort/Barry v De Zwaan/Van Barneveld/Young
G Anderson/Dolan/Kumar v West/Searle/R King
Wright/Rodriguez/Malicdem v Brown/Mansell/Asada
Friday December 27
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Third Round
Whitlock/Ward/Razma v King/R Smith/Teehan
Suljovic/Evetts/Sherrock v Dobey/Meulenkamp/Robb
Gurney/Pipe/Pratnemer v Durrant/De Sousa/Heta
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Price/O'Connor/Kantele v Henderson/Richardson/Suzuki
Fourth Round games TBC
Saturday December 28
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Fourth Round
Sunday December 29
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Monday December 30 (1900 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Wednesday January 1 (1900 GMT)
Final
Format
First Round - Best of five sets (no tie-break)
Second Round - Best of five sets
Third Round - Best of seven sets
Fourth Round - Best of seven sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of nine sets
Semi-Finals - Best of 11 sets
Final - Best of 13 sets
A tie-break will be in operation in all round from the second round onwards, where the final set must be won by two clear legs. If the score reaches five-all, the 11th leg will be a sudden-death leg.
Prize fund
Winner - £500,000
Runner-up - £200,000
Semi-final - £100,000
Quarter-final - £50,000
Fourth round - £35,000
Third round - £25,000
Second round - £15,000
First round - £7,500