Kavalek in Huffington: Viswanathan Anand Retains World Chess Title

by ChessBase
5/30/2012 – The young Anand used to finish classical games under an hour – before he matured and took more time to think. But speed was always his friend. Gelfand didn't have bad results in the past tiebreaking games, but long deliberations against Anand spoiled some of his promising positions, as GM Lubomir Kavalek shows us in his Huffington Post column – hot off the press.

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Viswanathan Anand Retains World Chess Title

By GM Lubomir Kavalek

"I am relieved," Vishy Anand said shortly after his victory against the challenger, Boris Gelfand of Israel, in the World Chess Championship. "The match was so even."

Played at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow during the last three weeks, it was a tough, tense match. It ended 6-6 after 12 classical games and it could have gone either way in the four rapid tiebreaking games. The Indian grandmaster eventually prevailed 2.5-1.5, and defended his world crown. He brings home $1,53 million.

The young Anand used to finish classical games under an hour before he matured and took more time to think. (In classical games each player usually gets 3.5 hours per game.) But speed was always his friend. Gelfand didn't have bad results in the past tiebreaking games, but long deliberations against Anand spoiled some of his promising positions. He was running out of time and made mistakes. For example, he could have saved the only decisive rapid game.

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Anand just played 58.b5 and Gelfand had a chance to steer the game into a draw but missed it with 58...Bf5?! The b-pawn helps Anand to push Gelfand's defense back. Snatching the pesky pawn leads to a theoretical draw. Black has two ways to do it: 58...Bd3 59.Rh6 Rxd5+ After 59...Bxb5 60.Rb6+ Kc8 61.Rxb5 Rg1 black draws, but has to play precisely. 60.Kxd5 Bxb5 draw 59.Rh6 Bg4 60.Rf6 Rf5 61.Rb6+ Ka7 62.Rg6 Bf3 63.Rg7+ Kb8 64.Nc3 Bb7 65.Kc4 Bf3 66.Kb4 Bd5 67.Na4 Rf7 68.Rg5 Bf3 69.Nc5 Kc7 70.Rg6 Kd8 71.Ka5 Rf5? Helping white to go straight into a winning rook endgame. Going to the corner with 71...Bh1 preserved drawing chances. 72.Ne6+ Kc8 73.Nd4 Rf8 74.Nxf3 Rxf3 75.Kb6 Rb3 76.Rg8+ Kd7 77.Rb8 The pawn moves quickly to b7 and white eventually wins by building the famous Lucena bridge. For example, 77.Rb8 Rb1 78.Ka7 Ra1+ 79.Kb7 Rb1 80.b6 Rb2 81.Rh8 Rb1 82.Ka7 Ra1+ 83.Kb8 Rb1 84.b7 Ra1 85.Rh4 Ra2 86.Rd4+ Ke7 87.Kc7 Rc2+ 88.Kb6 Rb2+ 89.Kc6 Rc2+ 90.Kb5 Rb2+ 91.Rb4 the bridge is finished and white wins. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2791Gelfand,B27271–02012B30WCC-Tiebreak-Game 2
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The critical moment of the game. Gelfand could have brought the point home with 26.Nxe4! Instead, he played 26.Rxb8 and after Ng6 Anand was still in the game and eventually drew in 63 moves. 26...fxe4 On 26...Ng6 27.Nd6 wins. 27.dxe5 and white wins the jammed bishop on b8.
  • Start an analysis engine:
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  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
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  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gelfand,B2738Anand,V27802012WCC-Tiebreak-Game 3

Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and aggregated blog founded by Arianna Huffington and others, featuring various news sources and columnists. The site was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and liberal/progressive alternative to conservative news websites. It offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy. It is a top destination for news, blogs, and original content. The Huffington Post has an active community, with over one million comments made on the site each month. According to Nielsen NetRatings, the site has around 13 million unique visitors per month (number for March 2010); according to Google Analytics the number is 22 million uniques per month.

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