Viswanathan Anand lived up to his reputation as the best rapid player of his generation when he routed challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel 2.5-1.5 in the four-game tiebreakers in Moscow to win his fifth World Chess Championship title on Wednesday.
The 8.5-7.5 overall win (including 12 classical games) gave Anand Rs 8.6 crore while Gelfand took home Rs 6.4 crore ($1.02 million). By winning the title, Anand automatically qualifies for the next year's World championship to be played in India. Anand had won the WCC title in 2000 ( Tehran), 2007 (Mexico), Bonn (2008) and Sofia (2010).
Anand won the second game in the four-game rapid series after drawing with black in Game 1 and held on to the lead. The first game set the tempo as Gelfand was better until he pushed his queen-side pawn on move 19. After that the Israeli played wildly hoping that Anand would make a mistake and then in time trouble, Anand as usual held his nerve.
Anand played a new move in the second game in the Rossolimo and immediately got the desired result. Though the game went on for 77 moves, Gelfand fell in time pressure while trying to find the accurate moves. Anand won a pawn and then quietly used his time advantage to get what he wanted.
In Game 3, Gelfand looked at his best when he got the advantage but again he landed in time pressure. Anand used all his experience to neutralise Gelfand's advantage and drew the game.
Anand adopted the Rossolimo again in Game 4 and found the clock his ally as he almost got a four minute advantage when the rook and opposite-coloured bishop endgame arose. That meant, the World champion had used up only the incremental time and a minute for the 56 moves that he had made.
In the post-match press conference, Gelfand said he could not quite cope with the time control. "It's difficult to find the best moves in time pressure. That was how I made the blunder in the second game (tiebreak)." Anand said he was not unduly worried about his opponent's match strategy.
"I have been following Boris' games and I had the impression that it was going to be a tough match. But he wasn't getting anything going in any of those drawn games nor was I getting any clear-cut advantages," he said.
The 8.5-7.5 overall win (including 12 classical games) gave Anand Rs 8.6 crore while Gelfand took home Rs 6.4 crore ($1.02 million). By winning the title, Anand automatically qualifies for the next year's World championship to be played in India. Anand had won the WCC title in 2000 ( Tehran), 2007 (Mexico), Bonn (2008) and Sofia (2010).
Anand won the second game in the four-game rapid series after drawing with black in Game 1 and held on to the lead. The first game set the tempo as Gelfand was better until he pushed his queen-side pawn on move 19. After that the Israeli played wildly hoping that Anand would make a mistake and then in time trouble, Anand as usual held his nerve.
Anand played a new move in the second game in the Rossolimo and immediately got the desired result. Though the game went on for 77 moves, Gelfand fell in time pressure while trying to find the accurate moves. Anand won a pawn and then quietly used his time advantage to get what he wanted.
In Game 3, Gelfand looked at his best when he got the advantage but again he landed in time pressure. Anand used all his experience to neutralise Gelfand's advantage and drew the game.
Anand adopted the Rossolimo again in Game 4 and found the clock his ally as he almost got a four minute advantage when the rook and opposite-coloured bishop endgame arose. That meant, the World champion had used up only the incremental time and a minute for the 56 moves that he had made.
In the post-match press conference, Gelfand said he could not quite cope with the time control. "It's difficult to find the best moves in time pressure. That was how I made the blunder in the second game (tiebreak)." Anand said he was not unduly worried about his opponent's match strategy.
"I have been following Boris' games and I had the impression that it was going to be a tough match. But he wasn't getting anything going in any of those drawn games nor was I getting any clear-cut advantages," he said.