5/12/2010 – Naturally Anand's victory was celebrated most of all in India, where he has around one billion fans. The broadsheets were full of the event – with rush video or telephone interviews, of which we have a number of examples for you to enjoy. The reporters also descended on Anand's parents and extracted statements from them. Review of the reports and feedback from our readers.
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Anand's determination has paid off: father
World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand's father Tuesday said it was his son's
determination that helped him retain the world title in Sofia, Bulgaria. "He
was quiet determined to win this time and his determination played a key role.
It is a great win. He had prepared hard for the last two-three months. The preparations
were different this time, because he was playing against Veselin Topalov,"
Anand's father R. Vishwanathan said. Anand's wife Aruna, who is also his manager,
termed the victory as emphatic. "It was an emphatic win. The preparations
were at a high level. It was a tense match. He didn't have a good start but
then played extremely well. To win the title was really nice," she said.
All India Chess Federation (AICF) president N. Srinivasan said: "The champions
showed his class. We are proud of his resilience and victory." Full
report...
We fought all the odds and won: Aruna Anand
One of the things Anand is always criticised about is the lack of mental toughness
and I think he has given a fitting reply. Playing in your opponent's home turf
against everyone's advice, embarking on a 40-hour road journey which I think
no world champion would have ever done in recent times. Bringing Anand and all
the boys by bus was a tough challenge. After reaching Sofia, even a little bit
of empathy from the organisers would have made us feel better, but we had to
fight even for a postponement. At every stage I was feeling that the dice was
heavily loaded against us. We however kept Anand out of everything and saw to
it the atmosphere was conducive for him to play good chess. He played a wonderful
game and hats off to him! Up to the first half the dynamics were loaded in favour
of Anand and then they switched to Topalov but Anand rose to every kind of challenge,
kept his nerves in check and kept fighting at all levels. Full
report...
The pressure should have been on world champion Viswanathan Anand. But in fact,
it was challenger Veselin Topalov who showed nerves in the decisive game of
the World Chess Championship duel to hand over the world champion the most important
victory he needed to protect his title on Tuesday. Game 12 proved to be the
Game of Death and so the contest was decided in favour of Anand, who won 6.5-5.5
with a 60-move win over the Bulgarian in Sofia. Anand's victory was worth one
million euros (around Rs 6.8 crore).
Game 12 looked destined to end in a draw from the start but Topalov, eager
to seal his first match victory in his career, took risks with white pieces
and lost in 56 moves. This was Anand's second consecutive World Championship
victory in match format after he demolished Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn
two years ago. There is a saying in chess that if black is hell bent on going
for a draw (of course, in top-flight competition), there is nothing white can
do about it. The Bulgarian found a determined black in Anand, who was solid
as a rock in defence. A draw was looming ever since Anand made his second move
going for the extra-solid Queen's Gambit Declined, which has hundreds of lines
analysed deep into the endgames. Full
report with game description...
Anand retains world title
Viswanathan Anand retained the FIDE World Chess Championship, defeating Bulgarian
Veselin Topalov with black pieces in the final classic game of the series in
Sofia on Tuesday. The same spirit that saw Topalov adopt the ‘Sofia rule,'
under which he refused to accept draw offers, was evident when he battled till
the end before resigning as his position became increasingly untenable. Anand
opted for the Lasker defence after Topalov opened with d4 and black's isolated
pawn on c5 was the focus of the early part of the middle game. Anand, however,
obtained some counterplay with his light bishop, which exerted its influence
all along the long diagonal from a8 to h1. The position still remained fairly
equal until Topalov decided to take black's poisoned pawns on f5 and e4, letting
Anand breach his defences in a slightly protracted but ultimately critical manner.
Full
report here...
My son is the greatest ever: Krishnamurthy Viswanathan
An elated Viswanathan Anand’s father declared that his son is the greatest
chess player ever to be born. “Yes, I think so (that he is the greatest),”
the proud father told DNA late on Tuesday night, shortly after his son defended
the World Chess Championship with black pieces against challenger Veselin Topalov
in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Tuesday. TV reporters thronged the Anand household throughout
the evening. “What emotions are you going through as an Indian? I’m
experiencing the same,” he said even as he was expecting his son’s
phone call any moment. “It’s a stupendous achievement,” Viswanathan
said. “My wife and I were following the game online and it feels great.
We knew he would win after the 40th move.” Full
report...
Video reports
CNN
IBNLive did a telephone interview with the World Champion
"It's certainly the toughest match I have ever played. I certainly can't
recall any other experience like this. Even during the course of the tournament,
it wasn't that any one player was dominating. I knew it would eventually come
down to the question of whose nerves held up and I am relieved that it was me,"
he said. "I wasn't thinking of records, I was more keen on just staying
alive. Topalov is an incredibly tough opponent and to have prevailed is definitely
nice. This match took a couple of years out of my life."
Times Now:
includes an interview with Anand's parents in Chennai
NDTV:
includes a post-game interview with Vishy Anand
Speaking to NDTV after the win, an elated Anand said: "Nice to know I
can wake up as World Champion." The four-time World Champion, who hopes
to return to India in a week's time, gave away his secret to relaxation. "Watching
Lord of the Rings helped me relax," he said.
Europe Echecs:
A series of video reports produced by our French colleagues during the event
First feedback from our readers
Laurentiu Grigorescu, Windsor, Canada
Finally the match is over and the man who deserves most to be the undisputed
World Chess Champion won in big style! After years of disputes, parallel organizations,
various competitional format to determine the World Champion, now we enter normality
– in chess history term. I believe there is no more "yes, but..."
when it comes to recognize Vishy Anand as the champion. After being in the chess
elite for twenty years, after winning the tournament in Mexico cCity in 2007,
and winning the matches against Kramnik and now Topalov, Anand deserves his
place "at the same table" with Capablanca, Tal, Fischer or Kasparov.
Good play from Topalov, he needs to be recognized for his preparation and fighting
spirit. And finally I would like to appreciate the choice made by ChessBase
News to let Anish Giri comment several games – very entertaining, yet
competent and mature. Will he be the next Anand?
Wayne Mendryk, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
I would like to personally thank you for posting the analysis of GM Giri during
the 2010 World Chess Championship, and also thank you for all of your wonderful
reports about the match and the links you provided for chess fans. I would also
like to give Grandmaster Anand and his team of seconds, GM Nielsen, GM Ganguly
and GM Rustan Kasimdzhanov my congratulations for their hard work and success
in the match! My congratulations also to GM Topalov and his team for his wonderful
efforts to win this World Championship. Would it be possible for you to post
who were GM's seconds in this match as I have been unable to find out this information.
Rajko Vujatovic, London
Congratulations to Vishy Anand and to ChessBase for a splendid set of World
Championship reports from Malcolm Pein and young Anish Giri!
Sarah Regan, Manchester
Such accurate and entertaining analysis! And despatched at such speed! Thank
you Anish! You have been the perfect complement to a great World Championship.
Neeraj Sharma, Swansea
Congrats once again on the wonderful coverage of the world championship. Anish
Giri is amazing annotator and has a bright future to say the least.
P Krishnamurthy, Chennai, India
Bravo Anand! Phenomenal effort. You have made us proud.
Chess Fans from Bulgaria, Darmstadt, Germany We are a group of chess fans from Bulgaria. We are currently very disappointed
with your one-sided comments in favour of Anand. And this only because of Kramnik,
not because you like Anand more than Topalov. You are insulting all chess fans
in Bulgaria. Kramnik is not in Sofia. He is not playing in the match and we
hope he will never gets the chance to play in such a match again. Just try to
forget him for a second and be fair! Kramnik has not played even one nice game
in his whole life and does not deserve anything except to be pitied. We respect
both Mr. Anand and Mr. Topalov. Just try to be fair as we are.
Michael Vidler, Wales
Dear Chessbase, your coverage has been absolutely superlative, as always, so
just an email to say thanks for this. Just excellent!
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