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%).

Round three: Anand tantalizingly close to first win

A well fought, fantastic struggle ended without much fanfare, the World Champion Viswanathan Anand perhaps playing it safe in the dying stages of game three of the World Chess Championship to draw the game against Boris Gelfand.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand at the start of game three

The position was complex and appeared promising for the NIIT MindChampion Anand, but experts commenting on the game could not come to any firm conclusion, and only analysis by chess engines later should provide more insights into the game. It was one of those very rare times that Anand found himself in time trouble, and impending checkmate threath with both Gelfand’s rooks patrolling his seventh rank, had him settling for a draw with repetition of moves. The game lasted 37 moves and literally had the followers on the edge of their seats for most part.

Challenger Boris Gelfand confronted with Anand's deviation in the Grunfeld

Unlike the first two games, this game was razor sharp, needing both players to play precisely to maintain some semblance of balance. Gelfand’s Grunfeld was met with deviation on move three by Anand, but the 43-year-old Israeli GM had more than done his homework. The speed with which he belted out the moves giving a strong indication that he was all along on the home turf.

Anand ponders while the photographers do their thing

The audience in the theatre, the players on the stage

Anand castled on the queenside, but it was Gelfand who was on the attack in the initial stages. His queen and rooks along with the knight kept the pressure on Anand’s king. Anand ‘s pieces on the kingside were undeveloped, for which Gelfand had sacrificed a pawn. Anand however exchanged off the queens, bishops and knights and appeared better to try and probe for victory. However a cautious 35th rook move by Anand had the game petering into a draw.

The scores now stand level at 1.5-1.5 in the 12 Game Match series in progress at the Tretyakova Gallery at Mosocw.

Press Release by Team Anand at NIIT, photos by Anastasya Karlovich

Game three commentary

IM Malcolm Pein comments on the games on TWIC and live during each game via Twitter #telegraphchess.

Daniel King comments on game three

Daniel King analyses a critical position in the third game

Andrew Martin comments on game three

GM Robert Fontaine and his video producer Gérard Demuydt are in Moscow produced video reports and interviews after each round for the French chess magazine Europe Echecs. In the round three report we see the arrival of players, a short résumé of the game, the press conference, and interviews with Jan Timman and Valentina Gunina, the winner of the European Women's Championship, and Viktor Bologan, the winner of Taça Cuca.

Scoreboard

Remaining schedule

Days of play, with live commentators on Playchess.com. Note that the games start at 15:00h local time = 13:00 CEST, 07 a.m. New York or here in your location.

Links Official web site of the World Championship match All ChessBase reports on the World Championship All games in PGN 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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