Gelfand And Anand Draw Game 11
Boris Gelfand failed to make any headway in game 11 of his world title challenge match against Vishy Anand.
Anand chose the Nimzo-Indian once again, and surprised Gelfand with the rare move 8...Bd7. Gelfand fell deep into thought, taking nearly 40 minutes to reply, falling a long way behind on the clock as he tried to counter the champion's preparation.
It seems that the time was well spent, as Gelfand steered the game to calm waters. But it was Anand who somewhat surprisingly offered a draw after 25 moves, when Gelfand only had 13 minutes left to play 15 moves. By contrast, Anand still had over an hour left on his clock.
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| Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pts |
| Vishy Anand | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | 5½ |
| Boris Gelfand | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | 5½ |
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Gelfand used nearly 40 minutes considering his reply to 8...Bd7
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Vishy Anand surprisingly didn't choose to play on in his opponent's time trouble
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Tomorrow is another rest day, so the final game of the 12-game match will be on Monday 28 May. Will Anand pull out a dramatic last-game victory, or will the destiny of the title be decided in rapid tie-breaks?
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All games start at 15:00 local time (11:00 UTC). The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and a final 15 minutes to a finish with a 30 seconds increment after move 61.
The prize fund is $2.55 million, with the winner receiving $1.53 million (60%), the loser $1.02 million (40%).
If the match is level after 12 games there will be a 4-game rapid match tie-break at 25 minutes per game plus 10 second increment. If scores are still level a 2-game blitz match will be played at 5 minutes plus 3 second increment. If the deadlock is still not broken, there can be up to 5 of the these 2-game blitz matches before a sudden-death blitz game will decide the winner (5 minutes for white, 4 minutes for black, and a 3 second increment from move 61).
The full rules for the match can be found here (pdf).
The match schedule is below (times are Moscow time = UTC+4 hours):
| Date | Event | Time | Date | Event | Time | |
| 11-May | Game 1 | 15:00 | 21-May | Game 8 | 15:00 | |
| 12-May | Game 2 | 15:00 | 22-May | Rest day | ||
| 13-May | Rest day | 23-May | Game 9 | 15:00 | ||
| 14-May | Game 3 | 15:00 | 24-May | Game 10 | 15:00 | |
| 15-May | Game 4 | 15:00 | 25-May | Rest day | ||
| 16-May | Rest day | 26-May | Game 11 | 15:00 | ||
| 17-May | Game 5 | 15:00 | 27-May | Rest day | ||
| 18-May | Game 6 | 15:00 | 28-May | Game 12 | 15:00 | |
| 19-May | Rest day | 29-May | Rest day | |||
| 20-May | Game 7 | 15:00 | 30-May | Tie break | 12:00 |
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The official match website has video commentary in Russian and English. The English language host is Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, who will be joined by Nigel Short (on 11–12 May), Jan Timman (14–15 May), Joel Lautier (17 May), Peter Svidler (18, 23–24 and 28 May), Peter Leko (20–21 May), and Vladimir Kramnik (26 May).
Screenshots taken from the official coverage, which is available for replay at the match website.
Computer analysis from the official website.
