Anand vs Gelfand: Game Two too ends in a draw

Moscow: Viswanathan Anand demonstrated his defensive skills precisely and perfectly to draw against challenger Boris Gelfand in the second game of the World Chess Championship at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on Saturday night.

The score now stands 1-1 after two games of the 12 games Match series where the player reaching 6.5 will win the title of World Champion. Sunday is the rest day and the third game will be played on Monday, 14th May where Anand will once again wield Whites

Anand was delightful in his defence with the dark pieces, often making unexpected moves as against the ones suggested by the experts and the chess engines following the game.

The pieces and the position however appeared harmonious and Anand hardly appeared in trouble in the Anti-Meran game which lasted 25 moves.

Anand later commenting on the ending position explained ‘ White did have a slight edge initially but in the end there were many defensive structures for Black. ” Gelfand admitted “ I offered the draw as there was no option left. I could not get the slightest idea to mobilize the pieces.”

In the initial stages, it appeared that Gelfand had a slight edge but Anand soon neutralized it by some quick exchange of pieces, including the queens.

As expected there were no initial surprises by Gelfand as he stuck to his usual Queen pawn Opening while Anand opted for the Slav. He had stuck to the Grunfeld disastrously and then the Catalan against Veselin Topalov at the last World Championship at Sofia in 2010.

It was Anand who uncorked a novelty on the 14th turn with a knight move which left Gelfand thinking. However once the pawns and the pieces were cleared from the centre, there was not much play left.