Gelfand Wins In Kazan!
At last! After five straight draws the odds on a decisive result in the last game of the Candidates final in Kazan were not looking good, but Boris Gelfand broke the deadlock to win with some excellent play!
Gelfand switched to 1.d4 and Grischuk responded with the Grunfeld, but soon Grischuk was falling well behind on the clock as Gelfand enjoyed a pleasant advantage.
The middle-game was very complicated and both players seemed nervous, but Gelfand stayed on top and slowly Grischuk's position deteriorated further.
Finally after 35 moves Grischuk conceded defeat and suddenly the Candidates event was over. 42 year-old Boris Gelfand, currently ranked #16 in the world will be the challenger for Vishy Anand's world title in 2012.
At the post-match press conference, the body language says it all...
| Name | Nat | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2747 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 |
2½ |
| Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2733 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 |
3½ |
Congratulations to Gelfand on a fantastic achievement! He played some great chess during the event to crush Mamedyarov, beat Kamsky convincingly in tie-break games, and he always looked the more likely to win a game in the final.
See you at Anand-Gelfand in 2012! 
