World Chess Championship Update

Meanwhile, over in Moscow, the first two games of the World Chess Championship have been played.  You get one point for a win and half-a-point for a draw.  The first player to reach 6 1/2 points is the winner.

In Game 1, Viswanathan Anand (IND), the World Champion since 2007, had the white pieces, while challenger Boris Gelfand (ISR) had the black pieces.  Gelfand played the Grunfeld Defense, which seems to have surprised the commentators, and came away with a solid draw after only 24 moves.  You can read about that match here.

For Game 2, Gelfand got the white pieces.  He started with P-Q4 and Anand responded with the Slav Defense.  This was another short game that was drawn after only 25 moves.  You can read about it here.

So the match is tied 1-1 after two games, and both players will still feel good about their chances.  They are taking Sunday off, and the match will resume on Monday with Anand back to playing white.  My guess is that they've just been feeling each other out, and that Game 3 will be more dramatic than anything we've seen so far.