Vishy Anand Retains World Championship!

World Champion Vishy Anand has retained his title in a tense and exciting tie-break playoff with Boris Gelfand.

The Indian champion missed a winning opportunity in the first game with black, but won the second game of the 4-game tie-break when some excellent preparation drove Gelfand into terrible time-trouble and he lost a drawn ending.

Anand was lucky to survive a cramped position in game three, with the challenger missing the crushing 26. Nxe4, and Anand drew the final game to retain the title.

After the match Anand's immediate reaction was, "I'm too tense to be happy, but I'm really relieved".

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Game 1: A very sharp and tactical game ended with a draw.  Gelfand erred with 19.a4? which allowed 19...Qf3 and it looked like Anand had winning chances, but he seemed surprised by 22.Ra3 after which the advantage swung back to Gelfand.  Despite this, Anand managed to hold for a draw.  A missed opportunity for Anand?

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Game 2: Vishy Anand wins and takes the lead! The opening followed game 10 until Anand varied with 7.d4.  Gelfand was caught in the champion's preparation, and fell behind on the clock as he tried to solve his opening problems.

Anand found the strong move 17.Rg5, obtaining an excellent position, but Gelfand fought hard and achieved great drawing chances. Alas for the Israeli challenger, he was unable to continue to find the best moves as he survived solely on the 10 second increment, and Anand took the lead.

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Game 3: Another exciting draw. Anand varied with 4...Bf5 and Gelfand grabbed a lot of space with 13.c5 and 14.f4.  Anand's pieces became badly unco-ordinated and he sacrificed a pawn to free them and gain some activity.

Once again Gelfand was well behind on the clock and he missed the winning 26. Nxe4 after which Anand eventually achieved a draw.

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Game 4: Vishy Anand draws the game with white and retains his title!

Anand exchanged queens early on to simplify the position at the cost of a slightly better position for his opponent. 

Gelfand didn't need to be asked twice to attack, and threw his pawns forward on both sides of the board.  But the champion had it all under control, and despite Gelfand's desperate efforts, he had to settle for a draw and the end of his challenge.

Anand wins the match on tie-breaks 2½-1½.

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