2012 World Chess Championship: Anand vs Gelfand

popzags

Poland604 Posts

May 07 2012 11:36 GMT

Match Website
Games & Commentaries

May 10 - May 31, Moscow, State Tretyakov Gallery

Format:

12 games with regular time control
(120 minutes for first 40 moves + 60 minutes for next 20 moves + 15 minutes for the rest of the game)

in case of a draw...
+ Show Spoiler [Tiebreakers] +

4 games with blitz time control
(25 minutes for a game + 10 second increment for each move made)

2 games with bullet time control
(5 minutes for a game + 3 second increment for each move made)

Another 2 games with bullet time control
(5 minutes for a game + 3 second increment for each move made)

Armageddon game
(Players draw the right to choose colours. The choosing side picks one. White gets 5 minutes for a game versus 4 minutes for Black, White has to win the game to win the title, a draw or Black's win hands the title to the player with Black colour).

Participants:

Viswanathan Anand (Age 43, India) - reigning World Champion

[image loading]

Hanging around world's absolute top since early 90's, Anand is known as the best and most successful player of post-Kasparov era. He wrestled for the WCh title no less than five times, and been carrying this honor since 2008. Anand is widely known for his very fast pace of play and for preference with 1. e4 openings. He is also an Indian celebrity - in fact, he was the only sportsman invited to a prestigious dinner meeting between India's PM Manmohan Singh and US President, Barack Obama.

Boris Gelfand (Age 44, Israel) - winner of candidate matches

[image loading]

Born in Minsk, USSR (now Belarus), Gelfand deflected to Israel at age 30 and has been playing for this country ever since. During recent, long, winded qualification process, he defeated strong players like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Gata Kamsky and Alexander Grischuk to earn the right to challenge for the World Championship. Despite being an underdog, Gelfand will most probably be a tough nut to crack, as he is very strong in his pet 1. d4 openings and hardly ever makes strategical mistakes.

Head-to-head records: 6 wins for Anand, 5 wins for Gelfand, 26 draws

Games (all in PGN)

+ Show Spoiler [Game 1] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2012.05.11"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Boris Gelfand"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "48"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7
7.Nf3 c5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.d5 Qa5 10.Rb1 a6 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.O-O
Qxa2 13.Rb2 Qa5 14.d6 Ra7 15.Bg5 exd6 16.Qxd6 Rd7 17.Qxc6 Qc7
18.Qxc7 Rxc7 19.Bf4 Rb7 20.Rc2 O-O 21.Bd6 Re8 22.Nd2 f5 23.f3
fxe4 24.Nxe4 Bf5 1/2-1/2

+ Show Spoiler [Game 2] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "0:20:33-0:52:33"]
[Date "2012.05.12"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Boris Gelfand"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "49"]

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 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4
Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nf6 15.dxe5 Nxe4 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Qxd6
Nxd6 19.Nd4 Rfe8 20.Nxf5 Nxf5 21.Bc5 h5 22.Rfd1 Rac8 23.Kf1 f6
24.Bb4 Kh7 25.Rc5 1/2-1/2

+ Show Spoiler [Game 3] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "Moscow, Russia"]
[Date "2012.05.14"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Boris Gelfand"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "74"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3
O-O 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6
fxg6 14.O-O-O Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Ka1 e4 17.Bd4 Na4 18.Nge2 Qa5
19.Nxe4 Qxd2 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Rxd2 Rf5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.d6 Rfc5
24.Rd1 a5 25.Rh4 Rc2 26.b3 Nb2 27.Rb1 Nd3 28.Nd4 Rd2 29.Bxd3
Rxd3 30.Re1 Rd2 31.Kb1 Bf5+ 32.Nxf5+ gxf5 33.Re7+ Kg6 34.Rc7
Re8 35.Rh1 Ree2 36.d7 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Rxa2 1/2-1/2

+ Show Spoiler [Game 4] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "0:12:33-0:48:33"]
[Date "2012.05.15"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "4"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Boris Gelfand"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "68"]

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.Qc2 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 exd4 13.Nxd5
Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 15.h3 Bd7 16.Rad1 Re8 17.Nxd4 Rc8 18.Qb1 h6
19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Bxf5 Rc5 21.Rfe1 Rxd5 22.Bc3 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Bc5
24.Qc2 Bd4 25.Bxd4 Rxd4 26.Qc8 g6 27.Bg4 h5 28.Qxd8+ Rxd8
29.Bf3 b6 30.Rc1 Rd6 31.Kf1 a5 32.Ke2 Nd5 33.g3 Ne7 34.Be4 Kg7
1/2-1/2

+ Show Spoiler [Game 5] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "1:11:33-1:13:33"]
[Date "2012.05.17"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "5"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Boris Gelfand"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "53"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6
7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 O-O
13.g3 a5 14.Bg2 Bg5 15.O-O Be6 16.Qd3 Bxd5 17.cxd5 Nb8 18.a3
Na6 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Nxb4 axb4 21.h4 Bh6 22.Bh3 Qb6 23.Bd7 b3
24.Bc6 Ra2 25.Rxa2 bxa2 26.Qa3 Rb8 27.Qxa2 1/2-1/2

+ Show Spoiler [Game 6] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "0:21:33-1:03:33"]
[Date "2012.05.18"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Boris Gelfand"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "58"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Qc2 c5 7.cxd5
exd5 8.Be2 Be6 9.O-O Nc6 10.Rd1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Rxd4 Bc5
13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Bf3 O-O 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Rxd5 Rac8
18.Bd2 Bxe3 19.Bc3 Bb6 20.Qf5 Qe6 21.Qf3 f6 22.h4 Qc6 23.h5
Rfd8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Qxc6 bxc6 26.Re1 Kf7 27.g4 Bd4 28.Rc1
Bxc3 29.Rxc3 Rd4 1/2-1/2

+ Show Spoiler [Game 7] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "0:02:33-0:02:33"]
[Date "2012.05.20"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "7"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Boris Gelfand"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "75"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.c5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 b6
8.cxb6 Nxb6 9.Bd2 c5 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.exd4 Bd6 12.Bg5 O-O 13.Bd3
h6 14.Bh4 Bb7 15.O-O Qb8 16.Bg3 Rc8 17.Qe2 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Qd6
19.Rc2 Nbd7 20.Rfc1 Rab8 21.Na4 Ne4 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Qc2 g5
24.Qc7 Qxc7 25.Rxc7 f6 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.Nd2 f5 28.Nc4 Nf6
29.Nc5 Nd5 30.Ra7 Nb4 31.Ne5 Nc2 32.Nc6 Rxb2 33.Rc7 Rb1+
34.Kh2 e3 35.Rxc8+ Kh7 36.Rc7+ Kh8 37.Ne5 e2 38.Nxe6 1-0

+ Show Spoiler [Game 8] +

[Event "Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship"]
[Site "1:12:33-0:53:33"]
[Date "2012.05.21"]
[EventDate "2012.05.10"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Black "Boris Gelfand"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "33"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5
8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1
Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2 1-0

Poll: Who are you rooting for?

Vishy Anand (37)

65%

Boris Gelfand (20)

35%

57 total votes

Your vote: Who are you rooting for?

(Vote): Vishy Anand
(Vote): Boris Gelfand

Poll: How is it gonna end?

Anand wins in 12 games (21)

57%

Anand wins in extra games (6)

16%

Gelfand wins in 12 games (5)

14%

Armageddon game! (4)

11%

Gelfand wins in extra games (1)

3%

37 total votes

Your vote: How is it gonna end?

(Vote): Anand wins in 12 games
(Vote): Anand wins in extra games
(Vote): Gelfand wins in 12 games
(Vote): Gelfand wins in extra games
(Vote): Armageddon game!

eaT_Mi_Lquid

Germany509 Posts

May 07 2012 12:09 GMT

Wow that's awesome ! I love chess !! Too bad I cannot think 10 steps ahead

!!!

Sinedd

Poland7052 Posts

May 07 2012 12:16 GMT

Anand will win no problem

go go Vishy !!!

GrimmJ

Canada131 Posts

May 07 2012 12:33 GMT

I'm sorry, but I thought Magnus Carlsen was the World Champion? Or is he just the highest ranked?

popzags

Poland604 Posts

May 07 2012 12:40 GMT

On May 07 2012 21:33 GrimmJ wrote:
I'm sorry, but I thought Magnus Carlsen was the World Champion? Or is he just the highest ranked?

Yes, he is highest ranked. Last year, he decided not to participate in the qualification cycle (which was won by Gelfand).

I guess he needs more time to prepare some opening variations before he jumps back to the circuit.

Sweet post, Picklesicle. US Championship lineup is sick; I'll be eying it with interest.

Picklesicle

United States64 Posts

May 07 2012 12:45 GMT

While it certainly is true that Gelfand hasn't actually taken a win against Anand in... uh... 20? years, I don't think it's going to be quite so cut-and-dry.

Here's an article by GM Mikhalevski (full disclosure: please note that he's an Israeli GM) on the match.

I think it's going to be seat-of-your pants cool. Anand is a tactical genius and if the games go to all the way to the Blitz (5|3) resolutions I think he will be favoured over Gelfand's quieter, positional style + Show Spoiler +

(I'm not in any way implying that Gelfand isn't also a brilliant tactician. The man is the Challenger after all)

. The pressure, in my opinion, is on Gelfand to win before it goes that far, but historically these two players have had greater win success with White. Early draws while playing as Black as going to be crucial to gain the psychological edge for both players, but I think moreso for Gelfand with only (!!) 12 games under standard time controls.

Then, of course, there's all the debate flying around about Kasparov's purported remark on the match (quoted at the top of the article I linked). I don't think there's much to it, personally. I just think Kasparov is remarking on the strength of the playing field at the very tiptop tippitytoptop of the chess world. Gone, I think, are the days when the World Champion could legitimately say he could defeat any and all comers in a match setting + Show Spoiler +

(remember when Karpov insisted on playing everyone he could *after* he won the championship by default in order to prove that he deserved it?)

. That's a testament to how many players have gotten so incredibly good.

In other chess news, the US Championship plays starting, well, tomorrow (the 8th of May)! Go GM Kaidanov!

Edit: Added this article. Kramnik on Anand.

Raysalis

Malaysia1034 Posts

May 07 2012 13:21 GMT

Rooting for Vishy to win! Not sure who is going to win though since 12 games is incredibly short and anything can happen. Let the battles of the oldies begin

Mafe

Germany5966 Posts

May 11 2012 17:11 GMT

So the first game has been played. I'm not really a chess expert, but + Show Spoiler +

it looked like quite a "normal" game to me. A draw was probably fine for both for the start.

What do you think? What do you guess, when might me see some real "action"?

zanzib

China152 Posts

May 12 2012 04:58 GMT

My comments

+ Show Spoiler +

Boring Grunfeld. Nf3 lines tend to have little venom (especially at the top level) and doesn't pose a theoretical risk to the Grunfeld. Although playing 7.Bc4 when you are completely caught off guard in the opening is a recipe for disaster, it is the main theoretical discussion where black doesn't equalize completely. Some experts and commentators surmise that is why he played it safe, he did not expect Gelfand to use a risky defense at such an important event and likely expected a Semi-Slav...

TLDR - Vishy played safe and standard and neither side took any big risk.

Sinedd

Poland7052 Posts

May 13 2012 11:22 GMT

#10

pretty boring and disappointing games so far..

was actually expecting this

wish players would somehow positively surprise me..

Mephyss

Brazil128 Posts

May 14 2012 00:10 GMT

#11

Cheering for Anand. I dont see Gelfand as a "champion material". he can surprise but I dont see him holding the title for long against Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Carlsen on next cycle.

This match is long and I think they didnt show their weapons yet and its more looking what the opponent has to show.

VODs

Game 1 - http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/vid-archive?vid=1127 - Nigel Short on commentary
Game 2 - http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/vid-archive?vid=1130 - Nigel Short on commentary

Anand playing faster as usual but Gelfand playing a bit too slow I think

arQ

1033 Posts

May 15 2012 19:25 GMT

#12

On May 07 2012 21:40 popzags wrote:

Show nested quote +

Afaik, Carlsen withdrew because of criticism towards this one-match-championship style which by his account is outdated and an extremely unfair/bad way of determining the world champion. I think he is advocating a yearly regular tournament (think SC2 32-man single elim) instead. But yes he is still ranked 1 with the second highest ELO rank ever (behind the almighty Kasparov of course) :-)

Chess is amazing!

Miyoshino

314 Posts

May 15 2012 23:07 GMT

#13

I remember a while ago that if Carlsen was to challenge Anand, he had to wait for like 1.5 years and then in 1 year he could get a shot. Obviously, Carlsen didn't like such a system.
The system has like a 3 year cycle. If you join the candidate match process at the next opportunity, it takes 3 years before you actually get to play the title match.

This system is indeed bad. With all respect to Gelfand, it doesn't really make sense he is the challenger. He is ranked no.22 right now. Now I know many people didn't really respect Kespa rankings either, but I think ELO shows what a players playing strength is. Now some matches are more important than others, but that doesn't really tell you at what strength you are playing overall.

So yeah, the system sucks and it also came up with a sucky outcome.
And all matches are draws so far as well. Chess is a nice game, but only like 1 in 20 GM games are actually really interesting.

FIDE is ran by some crazy corrupt Russian who loved Gaddafi. It's like Blatter cubed.

Mafe

Germany5966 Posts

May 20 2012 14:11 GMT

#14

game 7 going on right now. + Show Spoiler +

Anand just made a move (23..g5) which is seen a bit critical by the experts I'm following (Karpov on amin stream atm) and it looks like Gelfand might get a small advantage now. Rather surprising.

edit: spoilered.

Azzur

Australia6259 Posts

May 21 2012 13:16 GMT

#15

YYEAAAHHH!

Great game by Anand in game8 and he draws level!

In the press conference he said that he spotted the trick of trapping the Queen many moves back!

Azzur

Australia6259 Posts

May 21 2012 13:17 GMT

#16

The event also has excellent footage and grandmaster analysis!

http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

Simbaaaa

23 Posts

May 21 2012 13:41 GMT

#17

Funny how much better Aronian and Carlsen are, I really don't find this match very interesting at all

greggy

United Kingdom1483 Posts

May 22 2012 00:04 GMT

#18

smells of fix

fix fix fix

Come on, even I could see Qf2.

User was warned for this post

popzags

Poland604 Posts

May 22 2012 10:07 GMT

#19

What Gelfand did in game 8 amuses me. Really man?

8...Bf6??? Even me, 1800 rated player wouldn't even consider such move.

EDIT: About the system of determining a challenger: I also think this is quite bad. What I would welcome the most is the old-school 24-game matches between the champ and the challenger, who would emerge from a tournament (or series of tournaments) between the highest ELO contenders. Those were the old, good days of chess...

Sinedd

Poland7052 Posts

May 22 2012 13:19 GMT

#20

finally some action !!!

go go go !

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