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World champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday retained his crown by winning the world chess championship title after wrapping up the final game against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
Anand achieved an improbable win playing with black in the final game to retain the world title by 6.5-5.5 margin after the end of the 12th and final game here.
Experts all over the world had predicted that Topalov, at his worst, will draw the last game under normal time control and then the match will head into the rapid tiebreaker.
However, it was not to be as Topalov, trying to look for complications, went haywire in a slightly difficult position and could not recover as Anand kept dealing one lethal blow after another to notch up his fourth world title in 11 years to remain the undisputed king of the game once again.
In 2008, Anand had won the world title in a match against Russian Vladimir Kramnik, in 2006 he had won the tournament ahead of almost all top players in the world, and in 2000 he had won the championship when it was held on a knockout basis.
Anand thus became the first official world champion in recent history to win two back-to-back matches in world championships against different opponents.
Kramnik can also lay his claims for that but for the fact that the match he won against Garry Kasparov in 2000 was not played under the official FIDE flag.
If the last game was any indication, Anand had indeed reserved his best as he knew Topalov will go all out for a win.
The reason for Topalov's unwarranted aggression was probably based on the fact that Anand is by far regarded as the best rapid chess player in history and Topalov does not have the same reputation in the faster version of the game.
Anand came up with another opening surprise as he went back to the basics. The Queen's Gambit declined as black has a solid reputation and it stood up for Anand's quest as the Indian went for the rock-solid Lasker variation.
Topalov tried to create complications earlier but when the game headed towards a perfect balance, the Bulgarian lost his cool. The decisive moment of the game came on the 32nd move when Topalov blundered.
What followed was a feast for Anand as he could attack the white king at will. All Anand's pieces, joined the party and threats of checkmate loomed large on Topalov.
Toughest match I have ever played, says Anand
NEW DELHI: Moments after retaining the world chess championship title, Vishwanathan Anand termed the 12th and the final game against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov as "certainly the toughest match" of his career.
"I can't recall another experience like this," Anand said. "When I woke up in the morning, we had no idea who was going to win because even in the closest match it wasn't like one player was dominating and therefore I knew it was going to come down to the question of whose nerve held up and I am really relieved and glad that it was me."
Anand reckoned Topalov as one of the toughest opponents and said he was finding it difficult to adapt against the Bulgarian. "Since morning I wasn't thinking about any record. I was thinking just about staying alive," he said. "It was a bit difficult to adapt. Definitely, he is an incredibly tough opponent to have prevailed this night.
"Honestly, I had no idea how it is going to shape up."
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