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In all three games of the final round Black was victorious: Radjabov beat Gelfand, Ponomariov beat Nisipeanu and Carlsen beat Wang Yue. This left the youngest player with the highest rating two full points clear of the field, with an incredible 2918 performance. That translates to a FIDE rating of 2826, the second highest in chess history. Final report with commentary by Dorian Rogozenco.
ROMGAZ and the Chess Club Society "Elisabeta Polihroniade” of Bucharest are staging a double round robin tournament with six top GMs: the world's highest ranked player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who at the age of 19 has an Elo rating of 2813. Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov is a former FIDE knockout world champion; Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the FIDE World Cup in 2009; the top Chinese player Wang Yue; Teimour Radjabov, the second highest ranked player of Azerbaijan, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the best Romanian player. The competition is taking place from June 14th to 25th 2010 in Medias, Romania.
Round ten summary
By GM Dorian Rogozenco
Who could have guessed such results today? All three games of the last round in King’s Tournament finished with victories for Black! And how! White players didn’t have a chance!
Nispeanu lost in 23 moves against Ponomariov in a game that looks as an opening catastrophe. However, this won’t be very precise. Black got a pleasant position in the Four Knights Variation indeed, but the reason of White’s loss was a tactical mistake on move 17, after which White’s position collapsed surprisingly quickly.
Gelfand-Radjabov saw the King’s Indian, where it appeared first that White achieved an edge thanks to the centralised pieces. But starting with move 18 ... well, Gelfand said it himself: ”Everything went wrong. I played horrible today”. That was a very painful defeat for Boris, who otherwise played a very good tournament. By losing this last game versus Radjabov the Israeli also missed his chance to qualify in the Grand Slam Final tournament (most likely Radjabov will play there).
Finally, Wang Yue-Carlsen that lasted longer than other games didn’t differ much: here too White’s play was depressing. Carlsen equalized easily in the Gruenfeld Defence and then slowly, but firmly increased his slight advantage in endgame to take a full point and finish the tournament in great style: 5 wins and 5 draws. Actually this also reflects the draw ratio of the tournament: exactly half of the games were decisive, which is a good achievement at such level.
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Kremlin seizes Russian Chess Federation offices; no pawn pun intended
For those of you following the titillating chess scandal unfolding in Moscow, today brings new, exciting, dangerous developments.
As Carl Schrek reported in Foreign Policy this week, the Kremlin has been starting to meddle a bit in the nomination of Russia’s candidate for the presidency of the international press federation, or FIDE. Brief backstory: On May 14, the Russian Chess Federation narrowly nominated Soviet chess superstar Anatoly Karpov to be its candidate. Across town, another meeting, just shy of a quorum, renominated the zany incumbent, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
You may remember Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from such world events like running a tiny autonomous majority Buddhist Russian republic on the Caspian Sea; being friends with Saddam Hussein, Chuck Norris, and Muammar Qaddafi; being so inspired by his meeting with Pope John Paul II that he built a massive Catholic church for the republic’s one (1) Catholic; and being questioned in the Russian parliament over his 1997 tour of an alien spaceship during which Ilyumzhinov may or may not have shared sensitive state secrets with “humanoid aliens.”
Ilyumzhinov is a chess fanatic who has made chess mandatory in Kalmyk schools. As president of FIDE for the last 15 years, he introduced “speed chess,” which has taken the sport to the popsy level of speed dating.
And now that he has a serious opponent for the Russian nomination, the Kremlin is stepping up to defend him. First, Arkady Dvorkovich, the Duke-educated president’s deputy, called the nominating votes illegitimate. Then he went and seized to the offices of the Russian Chess Federation.
Today, at around 2:15 Moscow time, black suited men from the private security firm “Peper” arrived at the Federation’s offices, and presented Federation president Aleksandr Bakh with a diktat signed by Dvorkovich saying that Peper was now in charge. They then kicked out the regular security guards and sealed off some rooms in the building as a helpless Bakh called the police.
Dvorkovich, whose father was a chess arbiter, has spent the last few days saying that Ilyumzhinov is the better, more experienced candidate, and the question is, why does the Kremlin even give a shit?
It might have something to do with the uncontested election of Russian politician Alexander Zhukov to head the Russian Olympic Committee. Zhukov, an avid chessman himself, has sworn that he will make chess an Olympic sport because it is a sport that is “advantageous for Russia.” That is, it might pad Russia’s future medal counts which flopped so mightily in Vancouver. To do that, the Kremlin apparently wants its own stooge on the FIDE throne. Karpov, backed by the toxic Kremlin critic and persona non grata Garry Kasparov, probably doesn’t seem like a safe gamble.
Second, Ilyumzhinov has kept Kalmykia firmly, calmly under his rule since 1993, which is nice in a region that is becoming more and more restive and dangerous. Third, Kalmykia has some nice oil and gas, and straddles a geostrategically precious corner of the Caspian sea, potentially perfect for building a pipeline to, say, India. This could easily be a little reward for a strategically located and very loyal Ilyumzhinov.
I also can’t believe I just wrote 500 words about a chess scandal
The invasion of the Chess Club coincided with the seizure of the Club's bank account and the official website, which quickly posted a photo and message from the same Arkady Dvorkovich. RCF Chairman Alexander Bakh (photo right), who supported Karpov, was ejected from his office. Said Bakh:
"At around 4 p.m. a member of the private security firm "Peper" presented a contract for guarding the premises of the Chess Club. Employees sealed my office, the accountant's office, and another room and placed a guard at the entrance. But according to statutes of the Federation, only the Chairman can sign such documents. Under the old regulations the president and I could. I gave a statement to the police pointing out the illegality of the security service's actions, since they did not verify the legality of the signed order."
Karpov has released his own letter in reaction to these events, and also in response to a letter Dvorkovich sent out to the world's chess federations claiming that Karpov's election on May 14 was invalid. In it, Karpov makes the point that Dvorkovich's claims about the invalidity of the RCF are only relevant to tax status.
The Central Chess Club in Moscow
Karpov's letter
Dear Colleagues,
A few days ago, Arkady Dvorkovich issued a letter to all chess federations admitting that he scheduled the Russian Chess Federation Supervisory Council meeting on May 14th. At that meeting, an open vote occurred with a quorum present electing me as the RCF’s candidate for FIDE President. In the face of the evidence I presented – the original RCF meeting announcement – Mr. Dvorkovich now appears to concede it was always supposed to take place at the Botvinnik Central Chess Club. He and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov previously falsely stated to the press that the meeting was originally scheduled for a different location.
It must be understood that Mr. Dvorkovich’s latest letter is a personal one and does not represent the will of the RCF, which openly voted against him on this issue. In his letter, he presents a new set of phony justifications to challenge the results of an election which took place in full accordance with current regulations. Mr. Dvorkovich virtually accuses himself of failing to register the NGO he was appointed to supervise. Regardless, he well knows that State registration relates only to banking and tax matters, and not the internal activities of the NGO. Moreover, Mr. Dvorkovich has repeatedly pretended to act on behalf of the Russian Chess Federation – the same RCF he now says is an illegitimate organization. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he will say anything to attack the election results regardless of consistency or accuracy. My nomination from the RCF is a matter of public record.
Mr. Dvorkovich’s position in the Russian Chess Federation was granted by the Russian Congress, the same Congress that granted Mr. Alexander Bakh his position. The difference between the two positions is that Mr. Bakh, not Mr. Dvorkovich, was assigned the right to sign documents on behalf of the Russian Chess Federation. Accordingly, Mr. Dvorkovich has no authority to act unilaterally on behalf of the Russian Chess Federation. He attempts to place himself above the law and above the elected council members, but his statements carry no power. It is worth noting that following the guidelines of President Medvedev, the Gossoviet of Russia (State Council) recently ordered senior government officials to step down from directing national sports organizations.
It is ironic that Mr. Dvorkovich libels me as pursuing the presidency of FIDE for improper purposes. I was not aware that there is significant money involved in chess at the moment. Perhaps Mr. Dvorkovich can enlighten us all about the financial dealings of FIDE and his involvement.
In attempting to overturn the formal vote of the Supervisory Council, Mr. Dvorkovich has organized a hostile takeover of the Russian Chess Federation. It began with the official website of the Federation and the seizure and of the RCF’s bank accounts. Then on May 20, three men from a private security force took over of the Central Chess Club, expelled Mr. Bakh from his office, and sealed all documents present – all with no court order or other legal justification. They carried only a paper with Mr. Dvorkovich’s signature. While Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s loss in the vote may have been embarrassing to Mr. Dvorkovich, his displeasure does not make the vote “illegitimate” or justify illegal acts by a senior governmental official. Knocking the pieces off the board when you lose does not change the result.
I won an open vote among numerous delegates across Russia and will proudly represent my country as I have for years, with dignity and integrity. I care deeply about our great game of chess, its traditions and its future. My thanks to all of my supporters. I will not let you down.
Several federations have already contacted me to discuss a distinct issue arising from Mr. Dvorkovich's letter – namely his efforts to intimidate other federations from supporting me. This is of course a profoundly disturbing action by a senior government official in the host country of the upcoming election and will no doubt be the subject of much discussion.
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On May 14, the Supervisory Council of the Russian Chess Federation attempted to hold a meeting in Moscow. Things had already gotten weird, with Council president Arkady Dvorkovich, also an aide to Russian president Medvedev, coming out in advance for Ilyumzhinov. So far in advance, in fact, that he announced on his own three weeks earlier that the RCF was nominating Ilyumzhinov. He did this after "talking to several Council members on the phone" and writing a letter of nomination that didn't have the signature of Alexander Bakh, the only person in the RCF empowered to sign things.
Karpov protested and Dvorkovich backed down somewhat and both sides girded for the May 14 meeting in Moscow. Things got a little wild even before the meeting. Dvorkovich caught wind that Karpov may have lined up a vote and enough votes to gain the nomination. So he announced a postponement of the meeting, which was ignored by Karpov supporters since they knew the only reason for a postponement was to avoid a vote. Dvorkovich then tried to move the meeting to a new location, one under his control, suggesting his own office or the offices at a bank owned by one of Ilyumzhinov's supporters. When all that failed, Dvorkovich and other Ilyumzhinov supporters on the Council boycotted the meeting, where the now-famous vote took place with 17 of the 32 Council members staying and voting for Karpov. (Council members are elected from all over Russia.)
Dvorkovich and Ilyumzhinov immediately attacked from just about every angle. The vote was invalid because A) Dvorkovich already nominated Ilyumzhinov himself or B) Dvorkovich didn't attend the meeting so the meeting didn't count or C) the meeting was supposed to take place at Dvorkovich's offices (Ilyumzhinov actually wrote this in his letter of protest but it was pointed out that the original announcement -- with the location as the Chess Club -- was still up on the RCF website. Oops. Though my favorite part of the letter is when he made fun of the delegates for voting with a show of hands. Yes, Kirsan, that is what democracy looks like. Scary, isn't it!) or D) the recent (February) reformulation of the RCF's structure and statutes had not been registered with the government agency that manages federations and other NGOs, so the RCF didn't really exist and the entire vote was a dream sequence.
Remarkably, it's D they seem to have settled on now, which makes you wonder what exactly Dvorkovich was planning to do at the meeting before he tried to cancel it. If none of the decisions the organization takes are binding, what were they doing there? And the NGO registry is about tax and banking status, not about internal affairs of the federation, so who cares? In an impressive attempt to thread this needle, Dvorkovich is now saying that since he (along with Council Chairman Alexander Bakh) was appointed to his position by the Congress, his position and authority are real despite the lack of registration with the feds. Unfortunately, Dvorkovich's post was not given the authority to sign papers for the RCF, Bakh's was, and Bakh supports Karpov. (Though, and this is important, Bakh didn't try to nominate Karpov unilaterally, instead holding an open vote.)
When Karpov won the May 14 vote I wasn't surprised. What surprised me is that it happened at all. Most readers know my day job with Kasparov is largely dedicated to The Other Russia and related pro-democracy initiatives in Russia, so I'm intimately familiar with the way state power is flexed there, although I am safe in Brooklyn instead of marching in the streets or having my offices raided on a monthly basis, for which I am very grateful. And with Dvorkovich being a presidential aide, and not a disposable one -- he is in charge of the Skolkovo "innovation center," the Kremlin's comically doomed attempt to create an artificial Silicon Valley near Moscow -- I figured that if Dvorkovich were worried the building would be locked down and the delegates dispersed, or threatened and then dispersed.
When that didn't happen, I took it as another sign that Ilyumzhinov's shield of political protection in Russia wasn't what it used to be. The other signs were how Ilyumzhinov's tales of an alien encounter hit the Russian press and then were even brought up in the Russian Duma. The rumblings in the Russian chess countryside were also getting some traction and there were actually more than 17 Karpov supporters on the Council, though a few decided it was too risky to show up. (Note that some of the most politically vulnerable Council members, from Moscow and St. Petersburg, bailed. Many of the votes came from areas most distant from the center, where there is typically less fear of Moscow.)
But it turns out Dvorkovich hadn't really left old methods behind, he was just slow to put them into action. As detailed in Gazeta.ru, with excerpts and more up in English on Chessbase here, Dvorkovich sent in a private security team to secure the Chess Club, kick Bakh out, and also shut everyone else out of the RCF website and bank accounts. This, we recall, by someone who doesn't have the authority to sign papers on behalf of the RCF and whose chosen candidate just lost a vote. This lack of signing authority is mostly because he is a government official. After several scandals and, later, poor performance by Russia at the Winter Games in Vancouver, Medvedev called for officials to stop meddling in sports federations. Dvorkovich was appointed RCF president because his father was a famous Soviet/Russian chess figure, but old hand Bakh was put on watch with signing powers so they weren't giving authority to a Medvedev aide.
Dvorkovich's brute force tactics are tragic on several levels. The story has hit the news and the blogs in Russia, disappointing many who are still holding out a tiny bit of optimism for liberalization from Medvedev -- and especially a young minister like Dvorkovich who is supposed to be beyond the Putin/siloviki mentality. On a more immediate level for us here in chessland, it indicates how deeply Ilyumzhinov must have dug himself and many others into things they can't afford to let go. Otherwise it's very hard to imagine someone of Dvorkovich's position allowing himself to get dragged into this with a fringe figure like Ilyumzhinov. That is, things with nothing to do with chess. But we have enough scary stuff going on without getting into their motivations.
Now we have Dvorkovich sending out letters to federations saying Karpov wasn't nominated by Russia (see reasons A-D above, plus a few more tossed in, including actually accusing Karpov of corrupt motivations). Karpov won the vote, Dvorkovich has the force of arms, and both have mailing lists and plenty of time. Dvorkovich surely has the levers to manufacture just about any result he wants now that he has cracked down hard. He could have a friendly judge declare the vote for Karpov invalid or probably create an entirely new RCF council and appoint his horse and dog to it, or simply declare that his original nomination of Karpov is the law of the land. Dvorkovich is basically saying he is the RCF. Ilyumzhinov will obviously support him. Will FIDE's member federations believe them? Or believe the video of the May 14 vote? It seems like an ideal opportunity to remind federations that this sort of thuggery is exactly the sort of behavior we would like to see cleaned up, and that they have a chance to strike a blow for this in September. And while I'm not nominating Karpov for sainthood, he did get the 17 votes and he's not going to send the MiB to roust you.
It's all quite depressing. Ilyumzhinov will try to keep Karpov off the ballot or try to force him to run from France or Germany. Ilyumzhinov will claim forever that he has the Russian nomination. What is the procedure to deal with a rogue FIDE president, by the way?
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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 and most importantly holding onto his nerves and game in the 12th game.
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.
Volcano worry
The volcano (Volcanic Ash from Iceland) did shake our entire schedule, so unusual and felt so helpless. Bringing Anand and all the boys by bus was a tough challenge. It was difficult to talk over the phone through the entire 40 hours as every conversation could be listened by everyone. And 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.
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Moments after retaining the World Chess Championship title, Vishwanathan Anand told CNN-IBN that the 12th and the final game against Bulgarian Veseline Topalov was the toughest ever in his career.
"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.
"Preparing for a world championship is all about choosing the right direction. Sometimes, you are spot on but most of the times, it doesn't go that well and then you have to adapt and work during the match and change course.
"He managed to surprise me by his attitude towards this match. Earlier, he was hit and run, but this time he stood his ground and kept playing the same openings. Luckily we coped.
"His strategy for the game was to play every game till there was only king left or till a draw looked like the only result possible. Somehow, this puts a lot of pressure. I was putting 4-5 hours every day and on top of that there was the pressure of doing the openings. The flipside is that he puts a lot of pressure on himself as well, so I knew the right approach," he added.
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NEW DELHI: After playing exhaustive chess for over three decades, Viswanathan Anand has assured himself a place among all time greats as he retained the World Champion title with consummate ease against Veselin Topalov in his own den in Sofia, Bulgaria on Tuesday.
With the win Anand has accomplished something which no other chess great, not even Garry Kasparov has done.
He has asserted his supremacy in the world by winning the title in every possible format of tournament including winning the world chess title three times in a row and against various opponents including two different ones in match format.
He has won in knock-out, round-robin and two matchplay formats to give an apt answer his critics that he cant stand the test of time.
Anand now has to his credit a rare combination of the consecutive three World Champion title and four in all including the knockout format that he won in 2000.
Anand started playing chess at the age of six and won his first national title in the sub-junior tournament with a record cent per cent score of 9/9 points in 1983-84. And there was no looking back since then.
As his success juggernaut was set rolling, he was tied for second place and awarded the bronze medal in the World sub-junior Championship in 1984 and became the Asian Junior (under 19) Champion in 1983-84.
He also became the International Master at 15, the youngest Asian to achieve this distinction. He was crowned the youngest national champion at the age of 16 in 1986 and in 1987, he became the first Asian to win the World Junior Championship when it was held at Baggio city in Philippines.
It was coincidental that Anand spend some time in Philippines as a young child when his father was there.
He earned the Grandmaster title in 1987 only making two GM norms in quick time in India itself. The country had found its first son in chess. The first Grandmaster in 700 millions at that time.
The Indian chess ace, popular as 'Tiger from Madras', won the strongest tournament at that time, The "Reggio Emilia" in Italy in 1991 ahead of Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.
His spectacular profile kept growing as he became the first Asian to play the World Championship and attained the World No. 2 position in the PCA Ranking list in 1995.
Anand won his first Linares title, the strongest tournament ever in the history of chess, in 1998 and in the same year he climbed up to the World number two rankings. He has the unbeaten record of claiming the prestigious Corus chess tournament for five times.
He reached pinnacle of his career when he became the 15th World Champion in 2000 after defeating Alexey Shirov in Teheran and ending Russian dominance over the game.
Anand has also won the first and second FIDE World Cups, which is a mind-boggling series of knock-out tournaments, in 2000 and 2002.
Famous for his lightening speed while making his moves, Anand has also established himself as the master of rapid chess with great victories at the Melody Amber tournament.
His other great victories have come at Dortmund, Mainz, Wijk Aan Zee, Leon and Corsica Masters. At Mainz his record is just perfect 10 after he won the 10th title there in August in the main event of the chess Classics.
Anand also has the distinction of playing six computers simultaneously and win (4-2) at an exhibition at the Aegon Man vs Computers chess event.
Anand, who returned to play in the chess Olympiad after a gap of 12 years in 2004, captained an all-Grandmaster Indian team and emerged as the top scorer in the event. The team got its best-ever sixth finishing.
He has been awarded many prestigious titles like Chess Oscars for three times on the trot. He is the only non-Russian other than Bobby Fischer to win the award after the tradition was reinstated.
He has also been bestowed with the inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour, in 1991, besides the Arjuna Award, the Padmashri (the youngest recipient of the title), Padma Bhushan, the Soviet Land Nehru award, the BPL Achievers of the World, Sportstar, Sportsworld "Sportsman of the year 1995" Award.
Anand, who shifted to Spain in -- for better opportunities, has received the 'Jameo de Oro' the countries highest civilian award given to a foreigner.
Anand has written a book 'My best Games of Chess' which has been released in English and German.
Having revolutionised the chess in India, the 40-year-old Anand, who holds a degree in commerce, promotes chess through the NIIT, of which he is the brand ambassador.
Some of the major achievements of Anand: World Championships (2000, 2007, 2008 and now); Corus Super GM Turnament at Wijk Aan Zee (1989, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006) Dortmund (1996, 2000, 2004); Corsica Masters (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004); Chess Classic of Mainz (2000, 2001 2002 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006); World Cup (2000, 2002); Melody Amber tournament (1994, 1997, 2003, 2007); Reggio Emilia (1991) Linares (1998, 2007) The credit Suisse Masters (1997) Dos Heramnas (1997).
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In a tremendous clutch performance Anand took charge with black against a dithering Topalov and whipped up a crushing attack with remarkable speed. The pretty retreat 34..Qe8! was the final nail in the Bulgarian's coffin. Well, not quite. That's would have made a tidy story, but in fact it was still quite sharp and Anand wisely took his time to work things out while Topalov maintained desperate hope of reaching an endgame like R+N vs Q. He found every desperate chance but there just wasn't as much fight in the white position as there was in Topalov. He even got his endgame after the time control, but with an open king it was hopeless. Anand maneuvered his queen precisely and Topalov eventually resigned game and match after move 56. Anand renews his title and takes home 1,200,000 euros, minus the 20% FIDE tax they charge for not getting in the way. Topalov gets 800,000.
What a game, what a match, what a world champion, Vishy Anand!
It certainly wasn't easy. Anand's gaff in the first game started him off with a loss and in need of an alternative defense to Topalov's 1.d4. The sturdy Slav came to the rescue, but the long grinds he had to defend cost him on the endurance side of the equation even though he quickly took the lead with wins in games two and four. Topalov's tremendous fighting qualities allowed him to level the score after being outplayed badly in two consecutive Catalans. Anand's strategic decision to slowball Topalov, playing like Kramnik with slow positional whites and, after the Grunfeld went into the shop, ugly passive blacks, paid dividends early. It clearly wasn't as easy for Anand to do as for Kramnik, however, and he got into trouble in several long defenses, including the loss in game eight.
Against Kramnik in 2008 Anand forced very sharp play whenever possible and was a very successful fire to Kramnik's ice. In Sofia the Indian chameleon went the opposite way, illustrating why Topalov doesn't have very good results against the Catalan. Anand did look very uncomfortable on the black side of those ugly queenless Slavs, however, and Topalov is a formidable grinder. The only real problem with the match, and right about now I'm sure at least one person (Topalov) would agree, is that it needed to be around six games longer. Topalov proved himself worthy of everything but the title in the end. And though it was by the narrowest of margins, Anand showed he's a cut above the rest even at 40. Or, as a fellow 1969'er, especially at 40.
In today's final game, Anand went with the ultra-solid Lasker QGD, which is about as close to the Petroff in spirit as things get against 1.d4. A slight exaggeration, but let's just say Anand was happy to take a draw and head into rapid tiebreaks on Thursday. Topalov had other plans, of course, and went about trying to stir up trouble. This he managed to do, although they did follow book for nearly 20 moves. Black had an isolated c-pawn, but Anand defended actively and the pawn mostly served to distract Topalov enough that he forgot about his own weaknesses. Anand did not. With several pieces offsides, Topalov's king came under fire after he played not the first over-committal pawn pushes of the match. The end couldn't come quickly enough for Anand's cheering section in the comments -- 36..Qd8+ was the preferred computer execution -- with nearly 25 minutes on both clocks at that point there was little doubt that it was a case of the white king being dead and long live Anand the king. Anand didn't even rush in the endgame, playing zugzwang games with his queen instead of grabbing the b-pawn. It was almost like he was enjoying himself, but I'm sure he just wanted to make absolutely sure there were no miracle perpetuals.
The official site has been great getting the moves out without crashing and the compliments have been high on the webcam as well. Kudos to the organizers. One blackout, no shenanigans, no rapid tiebreaks. Topalov lands in the group of eight candidates along with Aronian, Kamsky, Gelfand, Kramnik, Carlsen, the organizer wildcard, and the Grand Prix second-place finisher, who will be known in a dozen days in Astrakhan.
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LOCKED IN COMBAT: Viswanathan Anand of India and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria contemplating their moves during their 12th and final game in the FIDE World Chess Championship in Sofia on Tuesday. The Indian, playing with black, defeated the Bulgarian and retained the title.
World champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday retained the World Chess Championship title by wrapping up the final game against Veselin Topalov of Russia here.
Anand achieved an improbable win playing with black in the final game to retain the world title by 6.5-5.5 margin after the end of the 12th and final game here.
Experts over the world had predicted that Topalov, at his worst, will draw the last game under normal time control and then the match will be headed in to the rapid tiebreaker.
However, it was not to be as Topalov, trying to look for complications, went haywire in a slightly difficult position and could not recover as Anand kept dealing one lethal blow after another to notch up his fourth world title in 11 years to remain the undisputed king of the game once again.
Anand, thus became the first official world champion in recent history to win two back-to-back matches in world championships against different opponents.
Vladimir Kramnik can also lay his claims for that but for the fact that the match he won against Garry Kasparov in 2000 was not played under the official FIDE flag.
If the last game was any indication, Anand had indeed reserved his best as he knew Topalov will go all out for a win.
The reason for Topalov’s unwarranted aggression was probably based on the fact that Anand is by far regarded as the best rapid chess player in history and Topalov does not have any great reputation in the faster version of the game.
Naturally, the Bulgarian wanted to avoid the tiebreaker.
Anand came up with another opening surprise as he went back to the basics. The Queen’s Gambit declined as black has a solid reputation and it stood up for Anand’s quest as the Indian ace went for the rock-solid Lasker variation.
Topalov, tried to create complications earlier but when the game headed towards a perfect balance, the Bulgarian lost his cool. The decisive moment of the game came on the 32nd move when Topalov simply lost his cool and blundered.
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Viswanathan Anand defeated Veselin Topalov in the 12th game of the 12-round match to retain his World Chess title in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He won despite playing with black in the 12th and final game of the clash. Anand won in 56 moves.
This is Anand's fourth World Chess title. He had previously won the title in 2000, 2007 and 2008.
The scores were level before this game but experts say that Anand played an agressive match to negate Topalov's advantage with white. They also called this match as one of the most entertaining World Championship finals in a long while after the two were tied at 5.5-5.5 points each at the end of the 11th game. Anand won the title 6.5 to 5.5.
If anything, the world champion had not been able to display his superior form which was the talking point amongst the chess buffs in the first half of the match.
After losing the first game and winning the second and fourth thereafter, Anand's best chance was in game nine when he missed multiple winning opportunities. But the Indian ace found him in a situation where Topalov held the edge with his white pieces in the final game. But with his exceptional gameplay, Anand clinched the title.
Anand's Achievements
4 World titles: 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010
5 time winner of Chess Oscar
World Junior Champion, 1987
1st recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
1st to have won a title at each each of the Chess Supertournaments
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Viswanathan Anand retained his world title today in Sofia, Bulgaria by beating his opponent Veselin Topalov in the 12th and last match game with the black pieces. The Indian won the world title in a tournament in 2007, and now successfully defended it twice in a match.
Today already fourty minutes before the game, while the players were just about to leave their hotels, already a big amount of TV camera, single-lens reflex cameras, and other digital cameras, and dozens of media people operating them, were waiting in the theater room of the Central Military Club. A game that could be all-decisive, is on the program.
For the 6th time Topalov opened with 1.d4, and Anand went back to 1…d5. But no Slav this time. No, the World Champion chose the opening that has been played the most in World Championship matches: the Queen’s Gambit Declined. The variation with an early …Ne4, named after the second World Champion Emanuel Lasker, is known as passive but solid. A bit like the Slav ending Anand used three times, but with the queens still on the board.
Anand will certainly be satisfied with a draw. Topalov on the other hand will certainly be pressing today, but it remains to be seen how much risk he’s prepared to take. Many locals in Bulgaria will regard another draw as a loss for their hero, since Anand’s legendary record in rapid chess is known here too…
After a quiet middlegame Anand went both …e5 and f5. Topalov then seemed to crack under the pressure. He took two pawns very quickly, which simply led to a devastating attack for Black. Anand didn’t chose the quickest win, allowing Topalov to reach a RN vs Q ending, but the result was never in doubt. And so Anand decided the match in his favour with the first win for the black pieces in the very last game.
For now here is the full analysis of the game. More reports & videos plus press conference videos to follow shortly.
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It started out as a "boring" draw, but turned into YADEG – yet another dramatically exciting game. In his last white game in regular time controls Anand searched for a decisive advantage, and then on move 49 took a very brave decision – one that could have easily backfired.
In today's game Anand went for the English Opening (1.c4) and managed to get a slight advantage. But then due to some very slight and unabvious inaccuracies he was left without any constructive plan. After that Topalov not only equalized, but also took over the initiative in the endgame. It seemed that Anand would hold easily, and he indeed did. But then all of a sudden the World Champion decided to try his luck and gave away a pawn for some activity. Objectively Anand was in a great danger, but in order to get some real winning chances Topalov had to find a sequence of abstract computer moves. Not suprisingly he didn't and the game ended in a draw.
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The Grünfeld was finally back after the disaster in game one – if anything to show Anand's house was in order. The opening went well and he equalized easily, but a very sharp Topalov found a way to lead him astray. A classic endgame with a bishop pair advantage followed. The Bulgarian made inroads and pushed, but a finesse by the Indian put a halt to them and secured the draw.
World Chess Championship – Game ten
Sofia, 7th May
The tenth game of the World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria also ended after a bitter battle lasting 60 moves, when all possibilities of a decisive result were wiped out. The score now stands equal at 5-5 and the remaining two games promise to be exciting in this twelve-game match series to decide the World Championship.
NIIT MindChampion Anand defended an inferior position stubbornly for a long time, and this draw with black should put him in a better frame of mind going into the rest day tomorrow. Anand will wield white in the 11th game on Sunday. Later commenting on the game Anand said “ I think I got a decent position but a careless 24th move allowed Topalov to get some play”
Tired after defending passive positions in the Slav Defence, which are not exactly his style, Viswanathan Anand once again adopted the Grünfeld Defence, with which he suffered a shocking loss in the first round. Anand then had probably mixed up some order, and his team would have plugged in the obvious loopholes for the Indian to play it once again.
However the exchange of pieces had Topalov once again in a better position, with an advanced isolated pawn in the centre and his bishop pair controlling vital diagonals. Very soon it was apparent that Anand was in trouble and would once again need all his defensive skills to salvage a draw, while Topalov was in a no-risk position and could press for victory. Topalov’s king marched to the centre of the board very quickly, while Anand’s king was tied down in his territory. Anand had a knight and bishop while Topalov had the bishop pair in the ending. It was easier for Topalov to force play on both sides of the board as his bishops could gun long range while for Anand, it was once again defending an inferior passive position.
A 44th inaccurate move by Topalov’s light squared bishop suddenly allowed Anand’s knight to be active. Around this time Topalov started consuming time, and Anand was back to his speedy ways. Suddenly Anand’s knight, which so far had been restricted to his territory, was on the loose and started troubling the enemy. The exchange of the dark square bishop took the fizz out of the position and the draw was agreed.
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The longest game of the match. Anand switched to a Nimzo-Indian, forsaking the Catalan that had served him so well. His choice seemed to be vindicated as Topalov found himself in trouble in an ultra-complicated endgame with an imbalanced position. Anand made it to the winning line more than once, but faltered at the last moment. The Bulgarian's resilience paid off with a draw.
World Chess Championship – Game nine
Sofia, 6th May
Viswananthan Anand had many promising continuations which would have led him on the path to victory. However the Indian maestero was far from his best in a choppy game against Veselin Topalov in the ninth game of the World Chess Championship Match at Sofia, Bulgaria and missed many winning opportunities. Finally after a marathon battle lasting 83 moves, a draw was agreed. The twelve- game match is tantalizingly poised with a 4.5-4.5 score and just three more games to be played.
As expected, it was not the Catalan opening which has been tried and tested four times already, whenever Anand has played white. The Indian indicated that it was a time for change. Topalov went for the Nimzo Indian Defence. Both players targeted each other’s kingside, Anand trying to get closer to the king with his pieces, while Topalov gunned long range from the queen side with his bishop and queen.
NIIT MindChampion Anand gave the impression that the game was very much along his prepared lines and on the 21st move Topalov made things more interesting by grabbing Anand’s queen for two of his rooks. After his 40th move Anand was visibly upset as he realized that he had made an incorrect move and he went into a long think, probably to shrug off the disappointment of missing what probably could have been a quicker route to victory.
After that it was almost as if Anand needed to start afresh with the king hunt. Incidentally this is the first game in this Championship which went beyond the sixty move mark, which incidentally is also the move for the second time control. Victory for the second time in the game once again eluded Anand as he made a few inaccurate moves. Topalov sacrificed his knight and tried to push his pawns on the queen-side. Anand too had to give up his knight for Topalov’s pawn. In the end the Bulgarian started checking Anand’s king, leading to a draw.
Tomororow in the tenth game Topalov will play with the white pieces.
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