CHENNAI: World champion Viswanathan Anand will start clear favourite against Boris Gelfand, when the World Chess Championship Match gets underway at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on May 11. After successfully defending his world title against Vladimir Kramnik (2008) and Veselin Topalov (2010), the Indian will be eyeing his fifth world title.
In the build-up to the world title match, Anand’s form has been shaky, finishing joint third in Sao Paulo-Bilbao, sixth in Moscow, and joint fifth in London. The world No 4 has not played any tournament in 2012, fully preparing for the match. However, he played four games for Baden Baden on the top board in the Bundesliga, winning one, drawing three, and losing one game surprisingly to Sergei Tiviakov. Of course, match will be a different proposition, and Anand has twice shown that he can recover from an ordinary performance before the world c’ship to strike top form in the title match. The challenger’s form has also been ordinary. Gelfand finished ninth in Moscow and 10th in Wijk aan Zee.
With the match being held in the chess capital of the world, the 12-game match is expected to draw a lot of attention. The opening ceremony will take place on May 10, followed by the first game on the next day. The first player to take 6.5 points will emerge champion. If the match is deadlocked after the classical games, the tie-break games will decide the winner.
A poll on a website showed 85% of the voters’ picking Anand as the favourite to win the match in the stipulated 12 games. It looks a bit lopsided but Anand’s performances over the last two decades; besides his staggering achievements is probably the reason behind the verdict. While Anand has won all the major titles, the Israeli is yet to win a world title even though he has been a top player for the last 20 years.
With world No 1 Magnus Carlsen opting out of the Candidates matches, most of the chess world expected an Anand-Aronian (world’s second best player) clash for title. However, the Armenian lost to Alexander Grischuk in the quarterfinals. In the end, Gelfand emerged the challenger defeating Grischuk in the six-game finals.
With the top 10 being dominated by players in the age-group of 20 to 30, Gelfand (at 43) taking on Anand (at 42) for deciding the world’s best player shows the class and longevity of both the players. Anand holds a slight edge against Gelfand in their head-to-head encounters in classical games, winning six, losing five and drawing 24. The interesting fact being Gelfand’s last victory against Anand came way back in Biel in 1993.
The match against Gelfand should be an interesting one. This is Israeli’s first shot at world title, which makes him a dangerous customer. In big events, Anand & Gelfand have clashed twice (World Championship in 1997, World Cup, 2000) with the Indian emerging winner after a tough fight.
From being one of the best attacking players, Anand has also become one of the best defenders. It will be interesting to see what strategy he uses against Gelfand, who also revels in sharp positions. In his last two matches, Anand has opted for (1. d4) instead of his favourite (1. e4) with the white pieces, which has proved successful. He is unlikely to change the winning strategy against Gelfand, who is also a Queen Pawn player. The match is likely to witness openings like Slav, Grunfeld, Queen’s Gambit Declined and Queen’s Indian. With both players working with their seconds assiduously on the openings, the player who is able to catch his opponent off guard and produce high quality chess will win the match. Anand holds the edge but Gelfand cannot be counted out because of his vast experience and burning desire to be crowned the world’s best player.