Gelfand Barely Survives Game 3
The World Chess Champion Vishy Anand came agonisingly close to scoring the first win of his title defence against Boris Gelfand in a pulsating third game.
Gelfand choose the Gruenfeld Defence in a repeat of game 1, but this time Anand was prepared and opted for 3.f3 which led to a very complicated opening battle in a dynamic and unbalanced position.
A confident Gelfand punched out moves quickly, but his position started to sour as Anand managed to hold onto his extra pawn on the d-file. As the pawn reached d7, Gelfand desperately doubled rooks on the 2nd rank and clung on for a dramatic draw.
The match really sparked into life today, and it's possible that the champion may have missed a win as his time ran short.
Boris Gelfand will have white in game 4 tomorrow. Who will draw first blood?
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| Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pts |
| Vishy Anand | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1½ |
| Boris Gelfand | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1½ |
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Gelfand feels the pressure and...
...the champion sneaks a look at his quarry.
The cameras captured all the action...
... as Jan Timman provided commentary
Did he miss something? The exciting game ends in a draw.
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 of game 3 from the official website.
