Gelfand-Anand G2, a Chebanenko Slav, drawn after 25 moves (VIDEO)

The second match game between Boris Gelfand and Vishy Anand also ended in a draw. Against Gelfand's expected 1.d4 Anand chose the Chebanenko Slav (or rather a hybrid of the Semi-Slav and the Chebanenko, the later being characterized by an early ...a6) and the Indian got a solid if just slightly passive position. After the queens were exchanged, Anand needed to find an accurate way to get full equality, and he did. After two games the score is 1-1 and there are ten more games scheduled.

Gelfand-Anand, game 2, also drawn | Photos © Anastasia Karlovich & Alexey Yushenkov 

Unlike yesterday, today the two rivals did not bring any big surprises to each other. On the board came a relatively new, but a very solid variation of the Semi-Slav Defence. 

After Black’s 14th move Boris Gelfand thought for a long time and finally chose a line which led to an endgame with a slight edge for White. According to Gelfand, the seemingly sharper continuation 15.Bg5 would actually have resulted in an equal position.

It leads to more complicated play but I didn't see an advantage for White.

At the end of the game a few precise moves helped Viswanathan Anand to get full equality. On the 25th move the challenger offered a draw, which was accepted by champion accepted.

And so after two of twelve match games the score is still level. Sunday is a rest day; the third match game will be played on Monday, May 14th.

Our video report of today includes a brief interview with English grandmaster Nigel Short.

You can find more ChessVibes videos here

[Event "WCh 2012"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.05.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2739"]
[BlackElo "2799"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2012.05.11"]

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. Rc1 (10. Re1 h6 11. Rc1 Re8 12. h3 dxc4 13. bxc4 e5 14. Qc2
Qe7 15. Nh4 Nf8 16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. Bxf5 e4 18. h4 b5 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2718)
-Inarkiev,E (2695)/Sochi 2012}) 10... e5 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4
Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Nf6 $146 {The first new move.} (14... exd4 15. Rc4 Nf6 16. Bb1
Bg4 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bh4 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 g5 20. Bg3 Bxg3 21. fxg3 Kg7 22. Qxb7 d3
23. Qb4 {Riazantsev,A (2688)-Matlakov,M (2630)/St Petersburg 2011}) 15. dxe5 ({
Gelfand thought for about half an hour here. At the press conference he said
that it was a critical moment, and that} 15. Bg5 {was the major alternative.
"It leads to a more complicated game but I couldn't find an advantage for
White."} {After} exd4 16. Rc4 {we transpose to the game Goganov-Rublevsky,
Taganrog 2011 which ended in a draw after} h6 17. Rxd4 hxg5 18. Rxd6 Qe7 19.
Bb1 Bg4 20. Re1 Bxf3 21. Rxe7 Bxd1 22. Rxd1 Rfd8 23. Rde1 b5 24. h3 g6 25. Be4
Nxe4 26. R7xe4 Rac8 27. a4 Rd3 28. Re8+ Rxe8 29. Rxe8+ Kg7 30. Ra8 Rxb3 31.
Rxa6 bxa4 32. Rxa4 Rb1+ 33. Kh2 Rb2 34. Kg1 Rb1+ 35. Kh2 Rb2 36. Kg1 Rb1+ 37.
Kh2 {1/2-1/2}) 15... Nxe4 16. exd6 Qxd6 17. Be3 {White is still slightly
better. The threat is to exchange queens followed by Bc5 and a rook to d1
winning material} Bf5 18. Qxd6 Nxd6 19. Nd4 ({Invading immediately leads to
nothing because b7 is protected:} 19. Rc7 Rfc8 20. Rfc1 Rxc7 21. Rxc7 Rc8 $11)
({An interesting alternative was} 19. Bf4 {and perhaps try Rc7 on the next
move.}) 19... Rfe8 $5 {Afterwards this decision by Anand to let his bishop
being traded was praised by Gelfand.} ({After} 19... Bg6 20. Rc7 Rac8 21. Rfc1
{Shipov gives} f6 $1 22. Ne6 Rxc7 23. Rxc7 Rf7 $11) 20. Nxf5 Nxf5 21. Bc5 h5 {
A strong move that fits with the strategy.} 22. Rfd1 Rac8 {From here Anand
started to look very calm - he knew he had solved all his problems.} 23. Kf1 f6
24. Bb4 Kh7 25. Rc5 1/2-1/2

Match score