Vishwanathan Anand crowned chess king for the fifth time

Anand crowned chess king for the fifth time

Viswanathan Anand said he was terribly tense before the tie-breakers of the World Chess Championship on Wednesday. But he did not show any of it against Boris Gelfand. In a nerve-wracking rapid play, the Indian Grandmaster (GM) kept his cool to prevail over Gelfand and retain the world title. He has now won the title for the fifth time; he won his first in 2000 and then in 2007, 2008 and 2010. In the four-game tie-breakers, Anand brought in all his calculative prowess and outwitted the Israeli GM 2.5-1.5. The Indian GM had the clock under control while Gelfand was always under the pressure of time. Anand drew the first game and won the second game with Gelfand committing a blunder under time pressure. In the third, Anand fought back from a weak position, thanks to the extra time he had on his clock and in the fourth game, he knew a draw would suffice. He achieved it without breaking a sweat. "I'm really relieved that I won. Many times, I thought it might just slip. I don’t think I started as a favourite in any game, because Boris had had a good grip on the games. I am relieved," Anand said after the match. The tie-break was necessitated after the 12 regulation games ended 6-6 with players winning one each. Anand in fact fell behind after losing the seventh game. He bounced back in the eighth game. Anand admitted it was the turning point of the match.