Anand In The News Of His World Title

31 May 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Times of India reported that with players making the Grandmaster cut at the age of 12 or 13, chess is increasingly being seen as a young man's game. But Viswanathan Anand's victory on Wednesday at the age of 42 has renewed the debate on whether age has anything to do with performance.

Anand prevailed over older rival Boris Gelfand of Israel, 43, via a tiebreaker to assert his supremacy in match play and in the process made a mockery of the rating system in the game which has 22-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway at the top , 28-yearold Levon Aronian of Armenia at No. 2 and teenager Fabiano Caruana of Italy at No 8.

Anand's triumph would also probably bring back the debate over the traditional match play format being out of fashion, with younger players finding it boring and unwieldy. It doesn't really matter. It is a tribute to Anand's prowess that he has mastered a format that he was not comfortable with when he was a young player himself and managed to stay on top even when the youth brigade overtook him in the ratings list over the past 12 months.

"I am relieved," Anand said after the match in Moscow. He refused to admit that he was the favourite to win the rapid tiebreaker games. "I knew I would get my chances but I don't think I was the favourite when the games started."

So what is the next stage for the fivetime World champion ? He will most probably play his next title contest at home , maybe in Chennai next year, and will have to contend with opponents in their 20s. Is age catching up with him?

"Chess is a very strenuous sport . You can see that the top players are getting younger all the time," Anand told TOI during the match. "W e have Magnus (Carlsen ) and (Fabiano ) Caruana in the top 10."

ANAND'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP JOURNEY
1991: Qualified for Candidates matches, beat Alexei Dreev
before losing to Anatoly Karpov
1995: Lost Fide semis to Gata Kamsky, lost PCA final to Garry
Kasparov
1997: Lost Fide final to Karpov via tiebreak in Lausanne
2000-01 : beat Alexei Shirov in Teheran for Fide knockout title
2001: Lost to Ivanchuk in Fide knockout semis
2005: Finished second in tournament format at San Luis
behind Veselin Topalov.
2007: Won in tournament format at Mexico for unified title
2008: beat Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany, to be
undisputed champ
2010: beat Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria
2012: beat Boris Gelfand in Moscow via tiebreak.
* Has been world champion since 2007

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Anand Retains World Championship 2012

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The above rapid game 2 was the winning rapid game between Anand-Gelfand after ending in a draw 6-6 at the end of the 12 classical times. Chessdom.com reported that Viswanathan Anand is World Chess Champion 2012 after he defeated Boris Gelfand in the final match played in Moscow.

With equal score in the classical games (1 win and 5 draws each) the tournament was decided in a tiebreak. Anand won rapid game 2 which proved enough to retain the title he has held from Mexico 2007, Bonn 2008, and Sofia 2010.

Chess.com reported that World Champion Vishy Anand has retained his title in a tense and exciting tie-break playoff with Boris Gelfand.

The Indian champion missed a winning opportunity in the first game with black, but won the second game of the 4-game tie-break when some excellent preparation drove Gelfand into terrible time-trouble and he lost a drawn ending.

Anand was lucky to survive a cramped position in game three, with the challenger missing the crushing 26. Nxe4, and Anand drew the final game to retain the title.

After the match Anand's immediate reaction was, "I'm too tense to be happy, but I'm really relieved".

Congratulations to Anand!

Anand - Gelfand, Game 12, World Championships 2012

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Standings: Anand 5.5 – 5.5 Gelfand

World Chess Championship 2012 (Moscow RUS)
Fri 11th May 2012 - Wed 30th May 2012 – Official Site

World Championship (2 players 12 Rds Match Indiv TC:120m:60m:15m+30spm(61)) - Games in PGN: Games | Live

Anand – Gelfand, Game 11, World Championship

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Standings Anand – Gelfand:  5 - 5

World Chess Championship 2012 (Moscow RUS)
Fri 11th May 2012 - Wed 30th May 2012 - Official Site

World Championship (2 players 12 Rds Match Indiv TC:120m:60m:15m+30spm(61)) - Games in PGN:Games | Live

World Championship 2012 Still Even

25 May 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Chess.com reported that Vishy Anand opted for 1.e4 for his penultimate turn with the white pieces, and Gelfand once again replied with 1...c5.
This time the champion avoided the Sveshnikov by choosing 3.Bb5, but Gelfand proved to be just as well prepared in this variation.  Even when Anand chose the relatively rare continuation 5.b3, Gelfand immediately responded with the even rarer (almost-novelty) 5...e5!
The challenger's pawn structure looked a mess, but his bishop pair proved ample compensation and Anand conceded a draw after only 25 moves.
Chess statisticians may wish to check whether this world championship match has the fewest moves (and lowest average game length) in history!

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The psychological battle is now at fever pitch. With just 2 standard time-control games left in the match, there are still more questions than answers. Will the adversaries now play it safe or go for broke? Will someone crack - and if so, who will it be?  Or are we destined to see the fate of the world chess championship decided by rapid tie-break games?
Tomorrow is another rest day, so game 11 is on Saturday 26 May when Gelfand will have the white pieces.

 

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9th Game – Drawn, World Championship 2012

Pix 1. Boris Gelfand and Viswanathan Anand. http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/.

24 May 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The ninth game of the World Chess Championship 2012 ended in a draw. The Week In Chess reported that the World Chess Championship Game 9 was drawn in 49 moves of a Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein Variation leaving the match tied at 4.5-4.5.

Anand admitted that "Obviously I messed something up in the opening" and that "white just got the two bishops for my two knights and the only thing I did was to try and provoke this move 19. c5". Gelfand could have tried to exploit the two bishops with 19.Bg3 but instead he won Anand's Queen for Rook, Knight and Pawn as Anand wanted him to and a tricky ending resulted, one where Anand had to find the right fortresses to keep Gelfand's queen out. 

Anand - Gelfand, Game 8, World Championship 2012

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Standings: Anand 3 – 4 Gelfand

Video of Game 5, Anand-Gelfand, World Championship

18 May 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a video report R5 by the renowned producer Vijay Kumar of the Anand – Gelfand, World Chess Championship 2012 in Moscow, Russia.

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Anand - Gelfand Game 6, World Chess Championship 2012

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Anand - Gelfand Game 5, World Championship 2012

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World Chess Championship 2012 (Moscow RUS)
Fri 11th May 2012 - Wed 30th May 2012 - Official Site

World Championship (2 players 12 Rds Match Indiv TC:120m:60m:15m+30spm(61)) - Games in PGN:Games | Live

(Photo from official website)

Games 3 and 4 Video World Chess Championship 2012

16 May 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is an Europe-Echecs World Chess Championship video for round 3 and round 4 with Robert Fontaine. Interviews of Gunina, Bologan and Timman. Shows the best moment of the press conference where Vishy missed a mate in 2 in his analyses.

 

All games drawn from Game 1 to Game 4 and overall standings:

 Anand 2 – 2 Gelfand.

Here is the game 4 of the World Championship 2012 between Boris Gelfand (White) against Anand Viswanathan, Moscow, Russia.

 

World Chess Championship 2012 (Moscow RUS)
Fri 11th May 2012 - Wed 30th May 2012 - Official Site

World Championship (2 players 12 Rds Match Indiv TC:120m:60m:15m+30spm(61)) - Games in PGN:Games | Live

Candidate Carlsen Joins The World Championship Fray

Candidate Carlsen Joins The 2012 World Championship

15 October 2011, Kuala Lumpur - speculation is rife that Magnus Carlsen is keen to join 2012 World Championship after FIDE makes some concessions. The latest ICC periodic newsletter reported that big sponsorship and media pulling-power of Magnus Carlsen looks to have finally won over FIDE, as they bowed to the Norwegian World No.1's demands to change the format to the 2012 World Championship Candidates rules that clears the way for him to re-enter the fray for a possible title clash.

The 2011 Candidates in Kazan a few months back was settled by knockouts that only served to make a mockery of the system, with many games controversially ending in short draws. Subsequently elite grandmasters supported him by voting for an all-play-all format; now FIDE looks to have succumbed to the mounting pressures by switching back to an eight-player, double-round all-play-all.

The all-play-all format clearly favors Carlsen as his tournament record is peerless while 14 games would give far less chance of a fluke result than four. "If the changes that are predicted come true, I am ready to fight for the World Championship title," commented Carlsen in a statement released through his manager on Thursday. Besides the change to tournament format, Carlsen will also have as a requirement a "waterproof contract", as FIDE was unilaterally changing the terms and conditions for the players with scant regard to their contracts.

Let's hope we get to see the World No. 1 in action during next year's World Championship.