Anand is World Champion again

Viswanathan Anand from India defended his world chess champion title in an emphatic manner with three wins and a loss against Challenger Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

The World Chess Championship 2008 was played at Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn.  It consisted of twelve games, played under classic time controls.

Viswanathan Anand (India) defended his title with the score of 6.5 to 4.5 points.  Anand has won game number 3 and 5 with Black and game number 6 with White.  Kramnik won a single game, game number 10 with White.  Seven games were drawn.  Anand got the draw he needed to retain his title in game number 11, where he opened with e4 for the first time in the match and Kramnik chose to play Sicilian Najdorf which he very rarely played in tournament level.  After Anand forced exchange of Queens on 22nd move, the game was as good as drawn.  After playing 24…Be3 Kramnik offered a draw which Anand accepted to retain his World Champion title.

All the decisive games of the World Chess Championship match and the drawn last game are given below:

Vladimir Kramnik – Viswanathan Anand (Game No. 3)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Nxd4 h5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3 Rg7 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4 Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6 26.Kf1 Rg8 27.a4 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3 29.Ra3 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Bg4 32.f3 Bf5+ 33.Bd3 Bh3 34.a5 Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2 39.a7 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+ White resigns.

Vladimir Kramnik – Viswanathan Anand (Game No. 5)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Rg8 16.Bf4 Bd6 17.Bg3 f5 18.Rfc1 f4 19.Bh4 Be7 20.a4 Bxh4 21.Nxh4 Ke7 22.Ra3 Rac8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Ra1 Qc5 25.Qg4 Qe5 26.Nf3 Qf6 27.Re1 Rc5 28.b4 Rc3 29.Nxd4 Qxd4 30.Rd1 Nf6 31.Rxd4 Nxg4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rxb7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1 Ne3 35.fxe3 fxe3 White resigns.

Viswanathan Anand – Vladimir Kramnik (Game No. 6)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. Bd2 O-O 9. h3 b6 10. g4 Qa5 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. a3 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 Qd5 14. Qxd5 Nxd5 15. Bd2 Nf6 16. Rg1 Rac8 17. Bg2 Ne7 18. Bb4 c5 19. dxc5 Rfd8 20. Ne5 Bxg2 21. Rxg2 bxc5 22. Rxc5 Ne4 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Nd3 Nd5 25. Bd2 Rc2 26. Bc1 f5 27. Kd1 Rc8 28. f3 Nd6 29. Ke1 a5 30. e3 e5 31. gxf5 e4 32. fxe4 Nxe4 33. Bd2 a4 34. Nf2 Nd6 35. Rg4 Nc4 36. e4 Nf6 37. Rg3 Nxb2 38. e5 Nd5 39. f6 Kf7 40. Ne4 Nc4 41. fxg7 Kg8 42. Rd3 Ndb6 43. Bh6 Nxe5 44. Nf6+ Kf7 45. Rc3 Rxc3 46. g8Q+ Kxf6 47. Bg7+ Black resigns.

Vladimir Kramnik – Viswanathan Anand (Game No. 10)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5 18.Re1 c5 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2 21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3 Bg4 23.Qa6 f6 24.a4 Qf7 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Rab1 c4 27.a5 Na4 28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6 Black resigns.

Viswanathan Anand – Vladimir Kramnik (Game No.11)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.O-O-O exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 Draw agreed.