Anand-Topalov WCh, R2: The Champ Strikes Back

Anand's turn with the white pieces today after a complete catastrophe in yesterday's game one. Six different world championship matches have started with an exchange of wins in the first two games, but you have to go back to the second Tal-Botvinnik match in 61 for the last example. Live today at 8am ET. Not to be a snob, but it would be nice if they had someone with native-level English for the English pages of an official site of a world championship match. I'd give dollar for indefinite article or two.
Kasparov thought Anand was crazy for playing that Grunfeld line in the first game. Not only is it very dangerous, he said, but Black doesn't get real chances in compensation for the risks.
Update: Just like I said, every 50 years like clockwork the loser in game one strikes back in game two. After a crushing loss in game one world champion Vishy Anand bounced back with white in a Catalan to even the match heading into the rest day. He made steady progress on the queenside and Topalov, who seemed to come out of the opening in good shape, never found a plan and watched his pushed queenside pawns get picked off. Ironically, the extra pawn Anand gambited in the opening was still on the board on e3 when Topalov resigned the hopeless rook endgame. All the blather about Anand being discombobulated by the brutal loss in the first game can now be summarily defenestrated. Match on!
Maybe I misunderstood the seriousness of Topalov's use of "no draw" rules in this match? You have to go back to 1958 for three decisive games in a row to start a match, but all three were wins by Botvinnik over Smyslov, so a different kettle of borscht there. (They had a remarkably golden-age stretch of eight consecutive decisive games in their first match in 1954.) But these days we don't even have the space on the calendar to equal the first Steinitz-Chigorin match in 1889. The first 16 games were decisive before they drew the final game of the match.
Monday is an off day, then Anand will have to decide whether or not he goes back to the Grunfeld.

Source: Daily Dirt Chess Blog

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Posted in: Anand-Topalov WCC 2010