Another match, another draw.
Today the Champion, Viswanathan Anand, had white. He opened with P-K4, the first time that move has been tried in this competition (each of the other four games started P-Q4). Boris Gelfand, the challenger, responded with the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defense (1 . . . P-QB4; 2. N-KB3 N-QB3; 3. P-Q4 PxP; 4. NxP N-KB3; 5. N-QB3 P-K4; 6. N(4)-QN5 P-Q3; 7. B-N5 P-QR3; 8. N-R3 K-P4). At this point, Anand played N-Q5 -- which, according to Wikipedia, leads to "quieter play" than other potential variations. And so it proved to be, as Gelfand easily held off the Champion, and the match ended in a draw after only 27 moves. You can read about it here.
So that's five matches and five draws. There are only 12 matches scheduled, so it seems increasingly likely that whoever becomes the first player to win a match will win the title.
SCORE AFTER FIVE MATCHES
Anand (IND) 2 1/2 - 2 1/2 Gelfand (ISR)
The chess commissioner needs to hurry up and pass some rules changes to open up the offenses before this league moves out of the headlines at the HP. Maybe on each turn for the black pieces, there could be a hidden "Whammy" that moves around the board and takes that piece if landed upon.
ReplyDeleteThe matches have had a real European soccer quality so far.
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