Chess World Championships: 12th game ends in tie
Final round of World Chess Championship ends with draw; Israel's Gelfand, defending champion Anand will next square off in a series of speed matches to determine a winner
Israel's Boris Gelfand (43) and defending champion Viswanathan Anand (42) ended the 12th and last match in the Chess World Championship with a draw. The final score after 12 matches was 6:6. Gelfand and Anand will now compete in four speed matches which will determine the champion.
The score before Monday's decisive World Chess Championship match was 5.5-5.5, with the challenger and the champion sharing just one victory each in 11 games thus far. The remaining nine games have ended in draws.
Prior to the match, Gelfand said Anand's record "proves that he is one of the best in the world – perhaps the best – in (blitz) games. This is why he's been the reigning champion for so many years."
Anand was crowned champion in 2007 and retained his title in 2010 when he defeated Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
International grandmaster Vladislav Tkachov told The Voice of Russia that the rivals are exercising conflicting strategies:
"Known as a man of strong nerves, Gelfand is apparently playing for a lengthy period of high tension in the match. Anand, who is not known for endurance but has brilliantly won blitz games within seven minutes, is playing for a dramatic tiebreak," he said.
"Both rivals are urbane, but extensively use weapons other than eccentric antics, bizarre demands or silly pranks. Gelfand, for instance, resorts to emperor-style glances and overconfident gait. When nerves are strained, even these weapons can work. Importantly, the games played before spectators conceal titanic clashes between the rival supporting teams. Each is in constant contact with its patron via the Internet," he said.
