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Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand on Wednesday retained his World Chess Championships title - his fifth one and fourth in a row - against Israel's Boris Gelfand in closely-fought rapid tiebreak. Anand was a picture of complete calm as he went on to beat Gelfand 2.5-1.5. Earlier, the two grandmasters had tied in the classical time-control games with a score of 6-6.
The first game of the tiebreaker ended in a draw in 33 moves before Anand beat Gelfand in the second game in 77 moves. The two of the remaining four-game rapid chess tiebreaker ended in a draw as Anand successfully defended his title.
This was 42-year-old Anand’s fifth World Championships title and fourth crown in a row. The Indian chess wizard bagged his first world title in 2000 before winning three in a row in 2007, 2008 and 2010. He has been the world champion since 2007.
Anand wins approximately USD 1.4 million —— 55 per cent of the total prize fund of USD 2.55 million —— while Gelfand will get the remaining amount. The Indian ace won the 2007 crown in a tournament format among eight players. In 2008 and 2010, he beat Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria respectively after the format changed to championship match between the defending champion and a challenger.
World chess champion Viswanathan Anand of India is just a draw away and a few minutes from keeping his crown! He is leading Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand in a rapid tiebreaker for deciding the title in Moscow.
Tied at 6-6 after 12 games, the champion and the challenger are playing four rapid games with a time limit of 25 minutes per player. Anand and Gelfand drew the first game. The second game was an exciting win for Vishy Anand. They drew the third game and Gelfand is now playing the fourth game to save the match against Anand. The score favours Anand 2-1 points.
Hundreds of chess fans are watching Wednesday's tiebreak in a hall at the State Tretyakov Gallery, one of Russia's finest museums. The winner takes home $1.5 million, while the loser is awarded $1 million. Anand last successfully defended his title in 2010 against Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov.
Main sponsor Andrey Filatov of the 2012 Anand, Gelfand World Chess Championship has said that he is very pleased about his idea of holding a chess event in a museum has found favor with organisers around the world. Filatov was speaking to Eteri Kublashvili for a special interview ahead of the tiebreaks that would decide the 2012 World Chess Champion in Moscow on Wednesday. Here are excerpts from the interview via the official website.
