WCh Tiebreak: Anand draws final game, retains title!

The World Chess Championship 2012 is being staged in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, between the current World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India and the winner of the Candidates tournament Boris Gelfand of Israel. The match is over twelve games and lasts from May 11 to 30. The prize fund is US $2.55 million, the winner getting $1.53 million (60%), the loser $1.02 million (40%).

NIIT report: Anand wins tiebreaks, retains World Championship title

Reigning World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel in the rapid tie-breaks 2.5-1.5 to win the World Chess Championship for the fifth time. This is also a hat-trick in classical matches for Anand, who won the tournament format in 2007 in Mexico. When FIDE switched to match format he defeated Vladimir Kramnik in 2008 in Bonn, Germany, and then won against Veselin Topalv in 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria. This win against Gelfand is his third match win in a row.

Today when it mattered most, the "Speed King” was at his tactical best be it in attack and defence. “It was a tough match and I am too tense now to feel anything more than a sense of relief,” said the 42-year-old after the game.

Speaking on Anand’s win at Moscow, Mr Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman of sponsor NIIT, said: "I heartily congratulate NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand for retaining the World Chess Champion title. Anand’s fifth World Chess Championship win- is a new FIDE record and a milestone in the history of chess. Anand’s fighting spirit, perseverance and determination to overcome any challenge will surely inspire youngsters in India to embrace the game of chess. NIIT remains committed to promote chess in schools in India, through the NIIT MindChampions' Academy, our joint initiative with Anand.”

The 12-game match had resulted in a 6-6 deadlock, and the tie-breaks were needed to decide the title. In the first game of the rapid, where each player had 25 minutes on the clock with a ten second increment for every move, Anand defended nicely with the black pieces, once again opting for the Slav Defence. The game ended in a draw after 32 moves.

Anand playing 6.Nxe5 in game two of the tiebreak

Boris Gelfand about to play Pd7-d6 on his seventh move...

... and pondering his tenth move, Bc8-b7, in this decisive game

However there was excitement with Anand wielding white pieces in the second game. It was once again a Sicilian Rossolimo which saw Anand playing a novelty on the seventh move. Once again the queens were exchanged rather early, and thereafter it was a tactical battle between the minor pieces. Anand did appear better and won a pawn in the middle-game. Thereafter in an intense battle Anand played fast and Gelfand found himself on the losing side after 77 moves.

Anand looked in trouble in the third game but wriggled out with a draw. The Indian GM, who needed just a draw in the fourth game, played solidly to earn the vital half point after 56 moves.

About NIIT MindChampions’ Academy

NIIT MindChampions’ Academy is a joint initiative by NIIT, a leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT Trainer, and World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand, to initiate young minds into the world of chess. Established in 2002, the Academy has fostered over 11,000 chess clubs with more than one million students as its members, in schools across India. GM Viswanathan Anand has personally travelled across India, spreading the message for enhancing thinking skills by learning chess and motivating the school students. NIIT Mind Champions’ Academy conducts an annual event for the academy’s members. The academy provides teaching learning materials on chess, which includes computer based tutorials, video based mentoring by Viswanathan Anand, chess software, puzzles and a database of games.

NIIT Nguru is a smarter education solution for schools that utilizes appropriate technology as backbone and encompasses all the possible components required to make the school smarter. NGuru enables the school to move to a higher plane by introducing innovations in the Computer Lab, Subject lab, classrooms and administration. For more information, please write to nguru@niit.com or TeamAnand@niit.com visit www.niitnguru.com.

All photos by Anastasya Karlovich

Scoreboard

Tiebreak games analysed by GM Gilberto Milos

GM Daniel King analysis of the first game in the tie-break

GM Daniel King analysis of the second game in the tie-break

GM Daniel King analysis of the third game in the tie-break

GM Daniel King analysis of the fourth game in the tie-break

IM Andrew Martin analysis of the decisive fifth game

Video report by Vijay Kumar for Doordarshan Indian TV Network

Pre-Tiebreak news

The above e-paper spread in the newspaper Mid-Day, Mumbai, was written by our friend and colleague Manisha Mohite. To do so just click here or on the image above for a high-res version of the story.

 Tiebreak games

Rapid game one: The first rapid chess games of the World Championship tiebreaks in Moscow was exciting and super-sharp. Vishy Anand, playing with the black pieces, gained a considerable advantage but missed a possibly game-winning continuation. The game ended as a tense 32-move draw.

Rapid game two: The second rapid chess game was a super-sharp see-saw affair, with the World Champion gaining clear winning chances twice, but being foiled twice by a precise and accurate challenger. However Boris Gelfand used too much time on his clock and blundered and Anand won in 77 moves. He now leads with 1.5-0.5. GM Daniel King is commenting on Playchess.

Rapid game three: The third game was yet another super-sharp piece of tactical fireworks, with Challenger gaining a decisive advantage and then relinquishing it in face of imaginative defence by the World Champion. In addition Boris Gelfand ran down very badly on time, and in the end had to concede a draw. He now needs to win the fourth game with black to stay in the match.

Rapid game four: The fourth game of the tiebreak brought a tangible advantage for Challenger Boris Gelfand, who needed to win with the black pieces to stay in the match. But World Champion Vishy Anand kept things under control and found a very neat solution to the problems he faced and went on to draw. With that the World Champion won the tiebreak 2.5-1.5 and retains his title.

Replay all four games on our JavaScript board

Links Official web site of the World Championship match All ChessBase reports on the World Championship All games in PGN: Classical games + Rapid The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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