Sofia: World champion Viswanathan Anand had to settle for yet another draw against challenger
Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to remain tied after the 11th
round of the ongoing World Chess Championship here.
With just a round to go in the 12-game competition, both
Anand and Topalov are tied at 5.5-5.5 points.
Anand and Topalov have so far registered two wins each
while seven games have ended in no result.
If anything, the world champion has not been able to
display is his superior form which was the talking point
amongst the chess buffs in the first half of the match.
After losing the first game and winning the second and
fourth thereafter, Anand`s best chance was in game nine when
he missed multiple winning opportunities.
But the Indian ace now finds himself in a situation where
Topalov holds the edge with his white pieces in the final
game.
Anand`s choice of English came as a big surprise to many
but Topalov remained undeterred in one of the main lines of
the opening.
Anand`s opening was certainly something new, but Topalov
found an ingenious way to counter white`s plan by introducing
a new move on his 11th turn as the opening position was quite
rich with possibilities.
The Indian fought for the initiative in the ensuing
middle game but could not really find much that would have
given white hopes. After the trade of queens it was an endgame
on board which should have been a draw but Topalov created
chances for himself with some deft manoeuvres.
Anand decided to sacrifice his last remaining pawn on the
queen side but proved in the end that his counter play was
sufficient to equalise the ending. Topalov`s pieces threatened
to cause some damage for a brief while but the game was drawn
after 65 moves.
Asked about about the possibility of a tiebreaker in the
event of another draw in the final game, Topalov said, "First
we have another game, then we will see."
As is the rule, the tiebreaker will be played under rapid
chess rules in which Anand has by far established himself as
one of the best players ever.
To add to that, Topalov had lost his last world
championship match against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the
rapid tiebreaker which holds Anand as a favourite in the event
of a tiebreak.
PTI
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