Anand a Draw and Few Minutes Away from Becoming World Chess Champion 2012

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.

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Andrey Filatov: I’m Pleased that Museums Want to Hold Chess Tournaments

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.

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Is Anand Afraid of Gelfand @ 2012 World Chess Championship, Asks Israeli Newspaper

Eli Shvidler, writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has an interesting analysis to write. The report titled 'Armaggedon beckons for Gelfand and Anand' discusses the tiebreak format first. Then, it takes up the statistics.

Shvidler writes: The dry statistics are very heavily in Anand's favor. In lightning games, he holds an 8-1 advantage over Gelfand. However, Anand's last victory over his Israeli rival was in 2007; since then, they each have one victory.

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2012 Anand, Gelfand Match Tiebreak Live Today from 1.30 pm India Time

Anand, Gelfand explain Game 12 Draw

The exciting and historic chess day for deciding the 2012 Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship is here and the games would be broadcast live from India time 1 pm via the official website.

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World Chess Championship 2012: Nerves to Decide Anand, Gelfand Match

Tiebreak Format

Tune in for the tiebreak live broadcast of 2012 Anand, Gelfand World Chess Championship - India time 1.30 pm on Wednesday, May 30, at official website. 

How many games will be played? It could be four rapid games, 10 blitz games and an Armageddon! In fact, fans could witness as many as 15 fast and furious chess games between India's reigning world chess champion Viswanathan Anand and Israel's challenger Boris Gelfand. World Champions who have won the crown on tiebreaks include Anatoly Karpov in 1998; Rustam Kasimdzhanov in 2004 and Vladimir Kramnik in 2006. The system of tiebreaks has not been applied in the World Chess Championship for quite some time. 

India's Viswanathan Anand starts as favourite for the rapid games on Wednesday. Traditionalists view the tiebreaks as a profane method to decide a world chess championship match of the classical time controls. 

Tiebreak Rules:
Colors will be drawn and four rapid games will be played. The time control for these games will be 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. If the score is tied after the four rapid tie break games, colors will be drawn and two blitz games (5 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move) will be played. If the score is tied after two blitz games, another two-game blitz match will be played, under the same terms. The process will repeat, if necessary, until five blitz matches have been played.

If the score is tied after ten blitz games, a single sudden-death Armageddon game will determine the champion. The winner of a draw of lots gets to choose the colour to play, with white given 5 minutes and Black 4 minutes. Beginning with move 61, a three-second increment will be added following each move. If the game is drawn then the player of the Black pieces is declared champion.

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World Chess Championships - Sexy, Exciting, and Fast?

Top Seed Anna Muzychuk

If you are a little taken aback by that chess headline, don't be. Such a chess championship can truly take place. In fact, it would be true from May 31 itself! The World Rapid Chess Championship for Women is taking place from May 30 to June 6 in Batumi, Georgia. The championship will be held at the swanky Sheraton Hotel. It is being organized by the ACP and the Georgian Chess Federation. Read full post for top players' list and format. Women's World Chess Championship challenger Koneru Humpy is the second seed. Also playing is the very attacking 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, European Women's Chess Champion Valentina Gunina, Armenia's top woman player Elina Danielian, and others.

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