Taking about the Rapid section Anand
said, "Game one was a tense start. It was a long and tough match. The
match was very intense, I am relieved. I was better for most part in the second
game. It was a back and forth game!".
Anand admitted that Gelfand was a tough competitor.
"I am too tense to be happy, right now I am relieved. Gelfand was playing well, the match was very even," he added.
Anand admitted that Gelfand was a tough competitor.
"I am too tense to be happy, right now I am relieved. Gelfand was playing well, the match was very even," he added.
Talking on the Regular Time Section he said "It was a huge blow for me to lose
the seventh game. It was very critical moment for me. I was extremely fortunate
that I was able to come back the next day. Given that we drew our first 12
games, deciding the match by tie-break is quite a reasonable situation!".
The 8.5-7.5 overall win (including 12
classical games) gave Anand Rs 8.6 crore while Gelfand took home Rs 6.4 crore
($1.02 million)!
Anand had won the World Chess Champion
Title in 2000 (Tehran,
against Alexei Shirov of Spain), 2007 (Mexico, in a tournament ahead of
Vladimir Kramnik of Russia), Bonn (2008, against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia)
and Sofia (2010, against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria).
REGULAR SCHEDULE GAMES!
Game 1, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½ ; Gruenfeld Defence.
1.d4 (The World Champion opens
the Championship Match 2012 with the Queen Pawn!) Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5
Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.d5 Qa5 10.Rb1 a6 11.Bxc6+ bxc6
12.O-O Qxa2 13.Rb2 Qa5 14.d6 Ra7 15.Bg5 (Anand played 15. Bg5, allowing Gelfand to
equalize the position. Better was 15. Bf4, which puts additional
pressure on Black and creates some theoretical chances to play for a win;
still, it is to be considered that the great pressure on the players is forcing
these sorts of calculation mistakes on the players!) exd6 16.Qxd6 Rd7
17.Qxc6 Qc7 18.Qxc7 Rxc7 19.Bf4 Rb7 20.Rc2 O-O 21.Bd6 Re8 22.Nd2 f5 23.f3 fxe4
24.Nxe4 Bf5 ½–½ Draw Agreed!
Game 2, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½ ; Semi-Slav Defence.
1.d4 (Gelfand too opts for the
Queen Pawn as white!) d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7
8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O Bd6 10.Rc1 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nf6
15.dxe5 Nxe4 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Qxd6 Nxd6 19.Nd4 Rfe8 20.Nxf5 Nxf5
21.Bc5 h5 22.Rfd1 Rac8 23.Kf1 f6 24.Bb4 Kh7 25.Rc5 ½–½ Another Draw with Mutual
Consent!
Game 3, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½ ; Gruenfeld Defence.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5
4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5
N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.O-O-O Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Ka1 e4 17.Bd4 Na4
18.Nge2 Qa5 19.Nxe4 Qxd2 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Rxd2 Rf5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.d6 Rfc5 24.Rd1
a5 25.Rh4 Rc2 26.b3 Nb2 27.Rb1 Nd3 28.Nd4 Rd2 29.Bxd3 Rxd3 30.Re1 Rd2 31.Kb1
Bf5+ 32.Nxf5+ gxf5 33.Re7+ Kg6 34.Rc7 Re8 35.Rh1 Ree2 36.d7 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Rxa2
½–½ Another Draw!
Game 4, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½ ; Semi-Slav Defence.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3
e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O Bd6 10.Qc2 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5
12.e4 exd4 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 15.h3 Bd7 16.Rad1 Re8 17.Nxd4 Rc8 18.Qb1 h6
19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Bxf5 Rc5 21.Rfe1 Rxd5 22.Bc3 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Bc5 24.Qc2 Bd4
25.Bxd4 Rxd4 26.Qc8 g6 27.Bg4 h5 28.Qxd8+ Rxd8 29.Bf3 b6 30.Rc1 Rd6 31.Kf1 a5
32.Ke2 Nd5 33.g3 Ne7 34.Be4 Kg7 ½–½ Draw Again; Score Tied 2-2!
Game 5, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½ ; Sicilian Defence.
1.e4 (The World Champion
Springs A Minor Surprise With The King Pawn!) c5 (And, It Is A Sicilian!) 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6
Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 O-O 13.g3 a5 14.Bg2 Bg5 15.O-O Be6 16.Qd3 Bxd5 17.cxd5 Nb8
18.a3 Na6 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Nxb4 axb4 21.h4 Bh6 22.Bh3 Qb6 23.Bd7 b3 24.Bc6 Ra2
25.Rxa2 bxa2 26.Qa3 Rb8 27.Qxa2 ½–½ Draw Agreed; No Change In The Dead Lock!
Game 6, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½ ; Semi-Slav Defence.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Qc2 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Be2
Be6 9.O-O Nc6 10.Rd1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Rxd4 Bc5 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Bf3 O-O
15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Rxd5 Rac8 18.Bd2 Bxe3 19.Bc3 Bb6 20.Qf5 Qe6 21.Qf3
f6 22.h4 Qc6 23.h5 Rfd8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Qxc6 bxc6 26.Re1 Kf7 27.g4 Bd4 28.Rc1
Bxc3 29.Rxc3 Rd4 ½–½ Another Draw; The Score Tied @ 3-3 After The 6th
Regular Time Game In The 12 Regular Game Section!
It is the ‘Safety First’ approach we see in the games played till now as
both of the players know very well that ‘Risk Taking’ can cause irreparable
damage; and, hence, both the players wait for the Right Moment to come to
unleash what they have stored & prepared, spending months! As both these
players know each other well & have been friends for the last almost 25
years, they know each other’ style too well that it is getting very difficult
for them to spring major surprises on the other!
***********************************************************************
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Game 7, Gelfand-Anand, Slav Defence
, 1–0
The Challenger Strikes First! Boris Gelfand scored the
first win of the World Championship Match 2012. Anand’s 23...g5? is
considered the critical mistake by many experts, allowing Gelfand to get a
winning position with 24 Qc7 Qxc7 25 Rxc7. Though Anand sacrificed his bishop
for counter play it was not enough to hold Gelfand back from scoring the full
point. In the final position, black can queen his pawn but cannot stop the threat
of Ng6+ followed by Rg7 mate!
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3
e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.c5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 b6 8.cxb6 Nxb6 9.Bd2 c5 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.exd4 Bd6
12.Bg5 O-O 13.Bd3 h6 14.Bh4 Bb7 15.O-O Qb8 16.Bg3 Rc8 17.Qe2 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Qd6
19.Rc2 Nbd7 20.Rfc1 Rab8 21.Na4 Ne4 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Qc2 g5 24.Qc7 Qxc7 25.Rxc7
f6 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.Nd2 f5 28.Nc4 Nf6 29.Nc5 Nd5 30.Ra7 Nb4 31.Ne5 Nc2 32.Nc6
Rxb2 33.Rc7 Rb1+ 34.Kh2 e3 35.Rxc8+ Kh7 36.Rc7+ Kh8 37.Ne5 e2 38.Nxe6 1–0 Black
Resigns & Gelfand Goes One Up In The Match!
The World Champion Vishy Anand
Strikes Back In The Very Next Game – Game No 8!
Game 8, Anand-Gelfand, 1–0 ; King's Indian Defence.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5
d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5 8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5
12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1 Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2! (Anand played 17. Qf2!,
which trapped Gelfand's queen, resulting in an immediate resignation! Gelfand
made a serious error on move 14, overlooking Anand's 17 Qf2, which trapped
Gelfand's queen. This idea was also missed by grandmaster commentators Peter Leko
of Hungary and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, who preferred
Black's position until Anand played 17 Qf2. Gelfand could have saved his queen
by sacrificing his knight with 17...Nc6, but his position was still lost.) 1–0
Black Resigns & The World Champion Is Back In The Match With A Bang!
Game 9, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½ ; Nimzo-Indian Defence.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Qe2
Nbd7 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.Bd3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qc7 15.c4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Rfe8 17.Rfd1 h6
18.Bh4 Qd6 19.c5 bxc5 20.dxc5 Rxc5 21.Bh7+ Kxh7 22.Rxd6 Rxc1+ 23.Rd1 Rec8 24.h3
Ne5 25.Qe2 Ng6 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kh2 Rc7 29.Qb2 Kg7 30.a4 Ne7 31.a5
Nd5 32.a6 Kh7 33.Qd4 f5 34.f4 Rd7 35.Kg3 Kg6 36.Qh8 Nf6 37.Qb8 h5 38.Kh4 Kh6
39.Qb2 Kg6 40.Qc3 Ne4 41.Qc8 Nf6 42.Qb8 Re7 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4 fxg4 45.Qe5 Ng8
46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qxg4 f6 48.Qg2 Kh8 49.Qe4 Kg7 ½–½ Draw Agreed!
Game 10, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½ ; Sicilian Defence.
1.e4 (As in the Game 5, The
World Champion Goes For The King Pawn Opening!) c5 (And, It Is Sicilian Again
From Gelfand!) 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 e5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Bb2 d6 8.Nc4
d5 9.Ne3 d4 10.Nc4 Qxe4+ 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 Be6 13.d3 Nf6 14.Nbd2 O-O-O
15.Rhe1 Be7 16.Kf1 Rhe8 17.Ba3 Nd5 18.Ne4 Nb4 19.Re2 Bxc4 20.bxc4 f5 21.Bxb4
cxb4 22.Nd2 Bd6 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Nb3 c5 25.a3 ½–½ Another Draw Agreed! After 10
Games The Match Is Evenly Poised @ 5-5, with 1 Win Apiece!
Game 11, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½ ; Nimzo-Indian Defence.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O dxc4 8.Bxc4 Bd7 (The first
surprise of the game at move number 8 - Anand plays 8..Bd7, a developing move
with the idea of bringing the knight on the c6 square in the future. Instigator
of this move was David Bronstein, but it was popular and played
mostly during the middle of the 20th century.) 9.a3 Ba5 10.Qe2 Bc6 11.Rd1 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nbd7
13.Bd3 Qa5 14.c4 cxd4 15.exd4 Qh5 16.Bf4 Rac8 17.Ne5 (Playing 17.Ne5 and entering the exchange
of queens instead of the more ambitious 17.Nd2 followed with 17 ...e5! and some
complications, Gelfand decided not to take risk. The position that arrives
after the exchange of queens was slightly better for White, but with a huge
safety for Black.) Qxe2 18.Bxe2 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Rfd8 20.a4 Ne4 21.Rd3 f6 22.Bf4
Be8 23.Rb3 Rxd4 24.Be3 Rd7 ½–½ Draw Agreed & Anand Goes To The Final Game
Of The Regular Time Section With White!
Game 12, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½ ; Sicilian Defence.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6
4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.b3 d6 7.e5 Ng6 8.h4 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Nd2 c4 11.Nxc4
Ba6 12.Qf3 Qd5 13.Qxd5 cxd5 14.Nxe5 f6 15.Nf3 e5 16.O-O Kf7 17.c4 Be7 18.Be3
Bb7 19.cxd5 Bxd5 20.Rfc1 a5 21.Bc5 Rhd8 22.Bxe7 ½–½ Another Draw Agreed! And,
The World Championship Match 2012, Between The Reigning World Chess Champion
Viswanathan (Vishy) Anand Of India & The Challenger Boris Gelfand Of
Israel, Stands Perfectly Balanced @ 6 - 6, With Each Of Them Scoring Once!
Now, The Contest Moves On To The
Rapid Section Of The World Championship Where 4 Rapid Games, With 25 Minutes
Duration (With 10 Second Increment For Every Move Made!), Will Be Played! It is
almost a certainty that the ‘Lightning Kid’ Anand will prevail in this tussle
of rapid chess as the previous scores between the two heavily favours the Reigning
World Champion from India & he is considered the ‘Best Ever Seen’ in rapid
chess!
RAPID SECTION GAMES!
Game 1, Gelfand-Anand, Semi-Slav
Defence
Date: Wed May 30 2012; ½–½.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3
e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5
12.exd5 h6 13.b3 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Re1 Re8 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.g3 Rac8
19.a4 Qf3 20.Be4 Qxb3 21.Reb1 Bxg3 (Winning A Pawn) 22.Ra3 Qb6 23.Bxd4
Bxh2+ 24.Kxh2 Qd6+ 25.Rg3 Rxe4 26.Bxg7 Kh7 27.Rxb7 Rg8 28.Qxh6+ Qxh6+ 29.Bxh6
Rxg3 30.Kxg3 Bc8 31.Rc7 Kxh6 32.Rxc8 Rxa4 ½–½ Draw Agreed! The advantage of
white not helping Gelfand & having some problematic moments in the game
where Anand went one pawn up with 21...Bxg3!
Game 2, Anand-Gelfand; Sicilian
Rossolimo
Date:
Wed May 30 2012; 1-0.
1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6
4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. b3 e5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. d4 d6 8. Nxc6 Qxe4+ 9. Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2
Bb7 11. Na5 Bxg2 12. Rg1 Bh3 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Nc3 O-O-O 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Bxd6
Rxd6 17. Rg5 Nf6 18. Rxc5+ Kb8 19. Nc4 Re8+ 20. Ne3 Ng4 21. Nd5 Nxe3 22. Nxe3
Bg4+ 23. f3 Bc8 24. Re1 Rh6 25. Rh1 Rhe6 26. Rc3 f5 27. Kd2 f4 28. Nd5 g5 29.
Rd3 Re2+ 30. Kc1 Rf2 31. h4 Ree2 32. Rc3 Bb7 33. Rd1 gxh4 34. Nxf4 Re8 35. Rh1
Rc8 36. Rxc8+ Bxc8 37. Rxh4 Bf5 38. Rh5 Bxc2 39. Rb5+ Ka8 40. Nd5 a6 41. Ra5
Kb7 42. Nb4 Bg6 43. Nxa6 Rxf3 44. Nc5+ Kb6 45. b4 Rf4 46. a3 Rg4 47. Kd2 h5 48.
Nd7+ Kb7 49. Ne5 Rg2+ 50. Kc3 Be8 51. Nd3 h4 52. Re5 Bg6 53. Nf4 Rg3+ 54. Kd4
Bc2 55. Rh5 Rxa3 56. Rxh4 Rg3 57. Nd5 Rg5 58. b5 Bf5 59. Rh6 Bg4 60. Rf6 Rf5
61. Rb6+ Ka7 62. Rg6 Bf3 63. Rg7+ Kb8 64. Nc3 Bb7 65. Kc4 Bf3 66. Kb4 Bd5 67.
Na4 Rf7 68. Rg5 Bf3 69. Nc5 Kc7 70. Rg6 Kd8 71. Ka5 Rf5 72. Ne6+ Kc8 73. Nd4
Rf8 74. Nxf3 Rxf3 75. Kb6 Rb3 76. Rg8+ Kd7 77. Rb8 1-0 Black Resigns! The
Crucial & Moral Boosting Victory For The World Champion! Anand played his
moves so fast that Gelfand was forced to make moves with very few seconds to
spare!
Now it’s just like drawing the
next two games & retaining the Title! And, it is going to be a Himalayan
Task for Gelfand to get parity in the next two games & extend the match to
Blitz! And, he is going to have white in the next game as it is the ONLY CHANCE
for him to equalise & move forward!
Game 3, Gelfand-Anand,
Date: Wed May 30 2012; ½–½
1.d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4.
e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. O-O Bd6 10. h3 O-O 11.
Qc2 Qe7 12. Rd1 Rac8 13. c5 Bb8 14. f4 Ne8 15. b4 g5 16. Rb1 f5 17. b5 gxf4 18.
exf4 Nef6 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Ba6 Rc7 21. Be3 Ne4 22. Rb2 g5 23. Rdb1 gxf4 24.
Bxf4 e5 25. Bxe5 Nxe5 26. Rxb8 Ng6 27. Nxe4 fxe4 28. Qf2 Qg7 29. Kh2 Rcf7 30.
Qg3 Nf4 31. R8b3 Qxg3+ 32. Rxg3+ Kh7 33. Rd1 Ne6 34. Be2 Rf2 35. Bg4 Nf4 36.
Rb1 Rf7 37. Rb8 Rxa2 38. Rc8 e3 39. Rxe3 Rxg2+ 40. Kh1 Rd2 41. Rxc6 Ne6 42. Rf3
Rxf3 43. Bxf3 Nxd4 44. Rc7+ Kh6 45. Bxd5 Rc2 46. Be4 Rc3 47. Kg2 Kg5 48. Kh2
Nf3+ 49. Bxf3 Rxf3 50. Rxa7 Rc3 51. Rc7 Kf4 52. Rc8 Ke5 53. c6 Kd6 54. h4 Ra3
55. Kg2 Re3 56. h5 Re5 57. h6 Rh5 58. Rh8 Kxc6 59. Rh7 Kd6 ½–½ Draw Agreed!
Anand can heave a sigh of
great relief, as he managed to salvage half a point from an almost lost
position! A disappointing draw from Gelfand’s perspective as he had great
chances of converting it to a full point but he blew it away in the commotion
of the events happened on the board & the main rival Time! He failed to
calculate where he should have done it perfectly; and, now he moves into the
final game of the Rapid Section with little chances of upsetting the World
Champion as only some out of the world miracles can force Anand lose the game
with white pieces in his side, probably, in the last game of the World
Championship 2012!
Game 4, Anand-Gelfand, Sicilian Rossolimo;
Date:
Wed May 30 2012; ½–½.
1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7
4. d4 Ngf6 5. e5 Qa5+ 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Bd2 Nxc3 8. Bxd7+ Bxd7 9. Bxc3 Qa6 10. exd6
exd6 11. Qe2+ Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 f6 13. b3 Bb5+ 14. Kd2 Bc6 15. Rad1 Kf7 16. Kc1
Be7 17. d5 Bd7 18. Bb2 b5 19. Nd2 a5 20. Rhe1 Rhe8 21. Re3 f5 22. Rde1 g5 23.
c4 b4 24. g3 Bf8 25. Rxe8 Bxe8 26. Nf3 Kg6 27. Re6+ Kh5 28. h3 Bf7 29. Rf6 Bg6
30. Re6 Re8 31. Bf6 g4 32. hxg4+ Kxg4 33. Nh2+ Kh3 34. Nf3 f4 35. gxf4 Kg4 36.
Ng5 Ra8 37. Re3 Kf5 38. Bb2 a4 39. Ne6 Bh6 40. Rh3 Bxf4+ 41. Nxf4 Kxf4 42. Bf6
Ra7 43. Re3 Be4 44. Bh4 axb3 45. Bg3+ Kf5 46. axb3 Ra1+ 47. Kd2 Ra2+ 48. Ke1
Ra6 49. f3 Bb1 50. Kd2 h5 51. Kc1 h4 52. Bxh4 Kf4 53. Bg5+ Kxg5 54. Kxb1 Kf4
55. Re6 Kxf3 56. Kb2 ½ – ½ Draw Agreed.
