Anand vs Gelfand: Score tied at 5.5-5.5 after Game 11

Moscow: The 11th game of the World Chess Championship was a tantalising one, having its exciting moments initially, which perhaps raised hopes of a positive result for fans of reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

Boris Gelfand appeared to have been caught off guard on the 8th turn with a rare continuation by Anand who had once again opted for the Nimzo Indian defence with the black pieces. Gelfand pondering long and hard on this move for about 35 minutes caused a buzz of excitement and many wondered whether the Indian ace had something exciting to unleash from his home preparation.

Gelfand appeared troubled, gesticulated nervously and stayed hunched for a long time on the board. Quite clearly the move had rattled him but the Israeli GM kept his cool and solved his problems on board to once again steer the game to a draw after 24 moves.

The 12-Game Match has just one more game remaining, to be played on Monday after a rest day on Sunday. The Match is delicately poised with a 5.5-5.5 score and a victory by either player would mean winning the World title. Anand will be wielding Whites and in case of a draw, the tie break games are scheduled to be played on the 30th.

Anand finds himself in a similar situation as in Sofia in 2010 where the score was tied 5.5-5.5 and he had scored that thrilling victory over Veselin Topalov in the final 12th game to retain the crown.

Anand had first won the title in 2000, then lost it the next year. He regained back the title in 2007 at Mexico and since then has successfully defended it in 2008 and 2010.

Today Anand also played a novelty on the 11thturn and his queen came into action early on the queenside and then swung onto the King side. Gelfand however neutralized the position by forcing the exchange of queens and a few pieces which fizzled out the game into a draw.