Anand retains title in World Chess tilt

DEFENDING champion Viswanathan Anand of India beat challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel in a rapid tie-break, 2.5-1.5, last Wednesday to retain the World Chess Championship at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia.

The game started last May 10 resulted in a 6-6 deadlock after twelve games with ten of the games ending in draws.

Gelfand drew first blood by winning game seven last May 20 but Anand quickly retaliated in the eighth game of the match and the score remained tied.

Match rules stated that tie-breaks were needed to decide the title. In the rapid games, where each player had 25 minutes on the clock with a ten-second increment for every move, Anand won the second game playing the Rossolimo variation of the Sicilian defense after 77 moves and that proved to be the match decider.

Anand got $1.53 million for his winning effort while Gelfand earned $1.02 million.

The 42-year-old Anand has reigned as world champion since 2007 and has previously successfully defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in 2008 and Vesselin Topalov of Bulgaria in 2010.

The 43-year-old Gelfand was born in the former Soviet Republic of Byelorussia but he immigrated to Israel in 1998.

Both won tournaments in the Philippines. Anand won the World Junior Championships in 1987 when Baguio City hosted the tournament while Gelfand won the Manila Interzonal in 1990. /correspondent Rene Bonsubre Jr.