Anyone think it might go boring again now the scores are level....

I think Gelfand will collapse psychologically.I see at least one more Anand win in the next 3 games.

Being way out here in the Pacific North American time zone (we are 8 hours slow on Greenwich) I get the WCC news fairly late, though still early here! LOL. So I go to my computer to see what happened today in Moscow and...WHAT???!!! Game 8 is over in 17 moves via a Gelfand blunder??? Well this is certainly NOT boring! LOL . Yes I agree with poster above, a classic it will be in the annals of the WCC. I think now that Gelfand will collapse, this is just too much of a blow for a challenger who was really fortuante to even be here anyway. He's played flawless up to now but this may have been all he has in his "tank". We shall see on Wednesday! Great chess.

why was Gelfand 'fortunate' to even be here? he spanked the others in the candidates match, today just proves he's human, probably had a late night last night. he'll be back

Late night????What do you mean?He was engaged in non  chess-related  night activities???

Charlotte's obviously found out where he's staying.

Personally I think Gelfand will recover. Anand got lucky and he knows it. I don't think this is necessary the resurgence of a great champion "back to his best". I hope Gelfand recovers anyway - I'm rooting for the underdog.

I believe the 2 players are equal.But today's game maybe indicates that Gelfand can't handle the pressure.Probably he has never lost in 17 moves ever in his life and that happens after he took lead in the match , a lead that could be enough to give him the title.He knows he was that close in winning the title but now he has to start over again.The day off certainly will help him but he has to face an even greater psychological pressure from now, his bad self.I really would like to know what he is thinking. 

Gelfand looked a bit too overconfident coming off his win and tried to play Anand head on instead of his normal style of chess.  Anand is way too good to play in the rough and tumble type chess head on. 

Gelfand next game will go back to his normal self and Anand will try to drag him into contact chess.  It should be interesting to see who prevails in future games.

Brilliant game! Perhaps one for the history books! Still too early to tell, but perhaps it might make one of the "Top 100 chess games of all-time".

I heard one of the commentators say that it appeared that black (Gelfand) might pull off two victories in a row after move number 10 and then Anand surprised everyone with that trap/trick.

What a way for Anand to redeem himself in this match.

what about Spassky vs Fischer 72'  2nd game 1..... (Bobby did not turn up so Spassky won on default) 1-0 

Go Vishy! Go Vishy! Go! Go! Go Vishy!

oo oo ah ah ah

Wow...and to think I missed this live game...drats.

So whole day today I was reflecting on this game, and actually thought that Anand would have won this one...I was hoping so. But to see the game unfold...would have been amazing.

So I gather Gelfand awoke "the sleeping Tiger" after all. It looked like Anand just outplayed him, but interestingly enough, Anand's opening really did break all the rules...as we know it.

...I guess the house of Anand is made of Bricks afterall...

...so many think that Gelfand choked under pressure, just as Anand did in Game #7. Gelfand must be kicking himself...he had the WCC in his hand for a brief moment...and then Vishi played a Capablanca.

And what about all those GMs commentators who also did not see Anand's brilliant trap? Leko, Nepo...I think Svidler was one of the few who saw 14...Qf6 as a blunder.

This takes me back to WCC Anand vs Topalov when Topalov defeated Anand...and Anand also immediately won the next game. Was Gelfand overconfident? Will this lost make him crumble now?

Anand clearly has the advantage now with only 4 games remaining...what will his strategy be? Play for draws? Or does he go for the jugular, and prove that he has not yet lost his step?

...clearly this WCC has now heated up...can't wait for Game#9...

Gelfand probably had ...Qf6 in mind when playing ....Nh5 and ...f5. It's a thematic trick to control the dark squares and follow up with ...Nf4 instead of retreating to g7 or f6. 

Of course. he should have smelled a rat when Anand played g4. But as has already been noted, even GM Leko missed Qf2! It's a quiet move. And BTW, the whole sequence is deeper than just two moves. Anand saw Qf2 when he played 11. exf5. (and he had to have looked at least two moves beyond THAT to verify that black was losing material).  Otherwise, he might actually be worse if he allowed ...Nf4. 

Anand said at the press conference that he only saw Qf2 after Gelfand had taken his rook. he was going to do Qf4 until then.

So Anand was lucky?

Krush was lucky vs Katonskih to win U.S. Championship.

Na, the first thing he said was that he saw it after move 11.

Yes, he didn't play into a lost position by mistake to find that 17. Qf2 was in fact winning at the moment he played it, but as he said at the press conference he had seen that 14. ... Qf6 was a losing move when he played 11. exf5.