The pressure should have been on world champion Viswanathan Anand. But in fact, it was challenger Veselin Topalov who showed nerves in the decisive game of the World Chess Championship duel to hand over the world champion the most important victory he needed to protect his title on Tuesday.
Game 12 proved to be the Game of Death and so the contest was decided in favour of Anand, who won 6.5-5.5 with a 60-move win over the Bulgarian in Sofia. Anand's victory was worth one million euros (around Rs 6.8 crore).
Game 12 looked destined to end in a draw from the start but Topalov, eager to seal his first match victory in his career, took risks with white pieces and lost in 56 moves. This was Anand's second consecutive World Championship victory in match format after he demolished Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn two years ago.
There is a saying in chess that if black is hell bent on going for a draw (of course, in top-flight competition), there is nothing white can do about it. The Bulgarian found a determined black in Anand, who was solid as a rock in defence. A draw was looming ever since Anand made his second move going for the extra-solid Queen's Gambit Declined, which has hundreds of lines analysed deep into the endgames.
But there was a dramatic turnaround in around move 30 when Topalov stretched the position by going all out.
With black, Anand did not want to do anything special, except bore Topalov to death. The Bulgarian, known for his attacking chess and also for scoring points in the last rounds when it mattered the most, tried to break through the Lasker Defence put up by Anand, a line that has been played time and again for a century. Expectedly, the players reeled off the first moves quite fast and then on move 16, Anand followed a road less travelled by posting the knight in the sixth rank. It was time for Topalov to take a break and analyse the position. Whether it surprised him or not, it was clear that Topalov was not completely comfortable with his preparation anymore.
After move 18, it was almost an endgame: just the Queen, rooks and knight versus bishop with six pawns each. It looked a draw but Topalov had other ideas. He started chasing the white bishop and got himself into a mess. Around the first time control, Anand got a good counter-attack with his Queen and rook chasing away the white King to a corner and in the process, Topalov had to give his Queen for Anand's rook and bishop.
Anand had already achieved what he wanted and the rest was a matter of technique. The Queen was deadly and by move 56, Anand was about to win a piece. Topalov gave up and shook hands.
Game 12 proved to be the Game of Death and so the contest was decided in favour of Anand, who won 6.5-5.5 with a 60-move win over the Bulgarian in Sofia. Anand's victory was worth one million euros (around Rs 6.8 crore).
Game 12 looked destined to end in a draw from the start but Topalov, eager to seal his first match victory in his career, took risks with white pieces and lost in 56 moves. This was Anand's second consecutive World Championship victory in match format after he demolished Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn two years ago.
There is a saying in chess that if black is hell bent on going for a draw (of course, in top-flight competition), there is nothing white can do about it. The Bulgarian found a determined black in Anand, who was solid as a rock in defence. A draw was looming ever since Anand made his second move going for the extra-solid Queen's Gambit Declined, which has hundreds of lines analysed deep into the endgames.
But there was a dramatic turnaround in around move 30 when Topalov stretched the position by going all out.
With black, Anand did not want to do anything special, except bore Topalov to death. The Bulgarian, known for his attacking chess and also for scoring points in the last rounds when it mattered the most, tried to break through the Lasker Defence put up by Anand, a line that has been played time and again for a century. Expectedly, the players reeled off the first moves quite fast and then on move 16, Anand followed a road less travelled by posting the knight in the sixth rank. It was time for Topalov to take a break and analyse the position. Whether it surprised him or not, it was clear that Topalov was not completely comfortable with his preparation anymore.
After move 18, it was almost an endgame: just the Queen, rooks and knight versus bishop with six pawns each. It looked a draw but Topalov had other ideas. He started chasing the white bishop and got himself into a mess. Around the first time control, Anand got a good counter-attack with his Queen and rook chasing away the white King to a corner and in the process, Topalov had to give his Queen for Anand's rook and bishop.
Anand had already achieved what he wanted and the rest was a matter of technique. The Queen was deadly and by move 56, Anand was about to win a piece. Topalov gave up and shook hands.
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