Viswanathan Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik of Russia 6.5-4.5 with a game to spare in the 12-game World Championship match being held at Bonn, Germany. Anand drew the 11th game, playing with white pieces, to retain the title.
Anand first won the World Chess title in 2000 in 128-player knockout format. Last year, in 2007, he won the title in eight-player double round-robin format. Now Anand has regained the title in the traditional matchplay format, where one play against a player (the challenger or reigning champion) in a series of games.
First two games were drawn. Anand won the third game playing with black pieces. Fourth game was also a draw. Anand again won with black pieces in game five. Anand stretched his lead to 3 points in the sixth game by winning it. Next three games were drawn. Anand with his good defensive play managed to escape from the jaws of defeat in game 8 and 9. Kramnik managed to win the tenth game and kept the championship match alive. Then rest is history!
I feel he is nursing one unsatisfied desire deep in his heart i.e. to beat Garry Kasparov convincingly. I hope Kasparov comes out of the retirement strongly and Anand manages to beat him. In my view he is the best sportsperson India has ever produced. He is consistently at the top for a long time. No Indian sportsperson has managed to do that. His field of sport may not be exciting to watch but he is the only Indian to be a true World Champion for a long time. He is BHARATRATNA!Kudos to Anand!
Anand first won the World Chess title in 2000 in 128-player knockout format. Last year, in 2007, he won the title in eight-player double round-robin format. Now Anand has regained the title in the traditional matchplay format, where one play against a player (the challenger or reigning champion) in a series of games.
First two games were drawn. Anand won the third game playing with black pieces. Fourth game was also a draw. Anand again won with black pieces in game five. Anand stretched his lead to 3 points in the sixth game by winning it. Next three games were drawn. Anand with his good defensive play managed to escape from the jaws of defeat in game 8 and 9. Kramnik managed to win the tenth game and kept the championship match alive. Then rest is history!
I feel he is nursing one unsatisfied desire deep in his heart i.e. to beat Garry Kasparov convincingly. I hope Kasparov comes out of the retirement strongly and Anand manages to beat him. In my view he is the best sportsperson India has ever produced. He is consistently at the top for a long time. No Indian sportsperson has managed to do that. His field of sport may not be exciting to watch but he is the only Indian to be a true World Champion for a long time. He is BHARATRATNA!Kudos to Anand!
