‘Rapid’ tie-breaker to decide fate of the match on Wednesday.
The 12th game of the World Chess Championship in Moscow once again fizzled out into a draw after some exciting moments where world champion Viswanathan Anand livened up the position in the initial stages while challenger Boris Gelfand defended actively.
The classical games of this 12-round match ended in a deadlock at 6-6 and the title will be decided on the tie-breaks to be played on Wednesday.
Would it be the Queen Pawn Opening that was successfully used in the last two World championships or the King Pawn Opening, which Anand has been playing for almost his whole chess career? At the critical moment, Anand stuck to the King Pawn Opening and Gelfand responded with the Sicilian. Just like the 10th game, it was Rossolimo and Anand deviated on the fifth turn with d3 instead of b3.
The sixth move by Anand was among the rarely-played ones but the game came alive on the eighth turn when Anand sacrificed a pawn and Gelfand had two isolated pawns in the centre.
Anand was once again his speedy self and it was obvious that he was in his home preparation and this fantastic move set Gelfand thinking deeply. On the 10th turn, Gelfand returned back the pawn as it was difficult for him to develop his light square bishop.
“It’s pretty much a matter of taste and style on how the game develops further. The game is rich in continuations,” said former world champion Vladimir Kramnik at this point.
On the 13th turn, Anand accepted Gelfand’s invitation to swap queens and won a pawn. Gelfand, on the other hand, enjoyed bishop pair advantage. It was a practical decision by Anand at this point, making sure that the game either ended in his favour or petered into a draw. Anand then castled while Gelfand’s King came out to the war. However, once the dark squared bishops were exchanged, a draw loomed large and Anand offered it on the 22nd turn which was accepted by Gelfand.
Anand, reputed for his rapid prowess, wouldn’t mind the tie-break and Wednesday promises plenty of entertainment and exciting chess.
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