[1]Viswanathan Anand needed a tie-breaker to overcome Boris Gelfand and claim his fifth world chess title. But it was all-square in the 12-game classical series at Moscow. Here is the lowdown on how Anand and Gelfand ended up with six points each in the championship proper.
Game 1: Anand opened with queen pawn in the championship opener. To his surprise, Gelfand challenged him with the Grunfeld defence instead of the solid Slav defence.
But the Indian GM was equally prepared for that opening. Despite Gelfand holding a bishop pair, Anand equalised the game easily and drew in 24 moves. (0.5-0.5)
Game 2: The second game saw Anand playing the Slav defence against Gelfand, who opened up the centre at an appropriate time to gain initiative with the help of his better-placed pieces. But the Indian GM defended precisely to draw in 25 moves. (1-1)
Game 3: Again a Grunfeld defence, the third game saw an interesting tussle between Anand and Gelfand, as the complicated position ensured tactical possibilities for both sides.
However, the Israeli GM misjudged the position and was on an edge for some time before wriggling out of the mess. He held Anand in 37 moves by doubling his rooks in front of the Indian’s king. (1.5-1.5)
Game 4: Gelfand changed course from the second round game in his 10th turn, but then the result continued to be the same in the fourth game too.
The pieces and pawns got exchanged at regular intervals and the game ended in a draw after 34 moves. (2-2)
Game 5: Anand went back to the king pawn opening in the fifth game. But with quick response from Gelfand, the game turned out to be brief and dull. The most uninteresting game of the championship ended in a draw on the 27th move. (2.5-2.5)
Game 6: The sixth game between Anand and Gelfand was made livelier and attractive by the comments made by former world champion Garry Kasparov.
While acknowledging Anand’s superiority over Gelfand, Kasparov infuriated Indians by saying that “Anand has lost the spark.” The Slav defence game was a little dry with both players agreeing to a draw in 29 moves. (3-3)
Game 7: Gelfand drew first blood in the championship by defeating Anand in 38 moves in a Slav defence Meran variation in the seventh game.
Despite reaching a bad position due to his listless play, Anand had his chances to equalise but lost the plot in trying for a perpetual checks in the end. (3-4)
Game 8: Anand bounced back immediately with an easy win with his tactical play in Kings Indian defence set up.
Moving his king from e1 to c2, Anand played daring chess. Gelfand responded with a blunder by getting his queen trapped. The Israeli GM resigned on the 17th move. (4-4)
Game 9: After two decisive results, Gelfand played well to reach an overwhelming position in the ninth game holding a bishop pair compared to Anand’s knight pair in a Nimzo Indian Defence opening.
But then, Anand lured him into a tactical stroke, which simplified the game directly. Still Gelfand with a queen against Anand’s rook and knight tried hard to win but had to settle for a draw in 49 moves. (4.5-4.5)
Game 10: Anand again choose to play the king pawn opening, but this time, he veered away from the Sicilian Sveshnikov variation.
With weakened doubled pawns for black, Anand held a slight initiative but with subsequent exchange of pieces, the game drifted to a draw in 25 moves. (5-5)
Game 11: Another Nimzo Indian defence from Anand in the 11th game. After trading queens early in the game, once again Gelfand held the advantage of two bishops, but then he came under fire from enemy rooks.
With Anand launching a tactical operation in the centre, Gelfand simplified things leading to a draw in 24 moves. (5.5-5.5)
Game 12: Anand opened with the king pawn for the third time in the series. After deviating from previous two games, Anand pulled Gelfand out of his comfortable preparations and forced him to think on board. But with quicker simplification of pieces, the two players agreed to a draw in 22 moves. (6-6)
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/01champjpgcropdisplayjpg-449