In a few hours the world will know the winner of the 2012 FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand. Because the Anand-Gelfand match ended with both players achieving 6 points, a tie break match will now occur. The tie break rules for Anand-Gelfand 2012 are very simple. First Anand and Gelfand will play upContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Tie Break”
Author Archives: chessmusings
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 12
In game 12 of the 2012 World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand, the reigning world champion caused excitement among his many fans by playing a rare opening line which left his opponent perplexed and with little time to discover the best path out of his troubles. Gelfand responded by giving up two pawns to increase theContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 12”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: The World Awaits Game 12
All eyes are on Moscow as Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand prepare to do battle one last time in this match at classical time controls. With the match tied at 5.5 a piece, Boris Gelfand has managed to silence his critics and stun the current World Champion Viswanathan Anand. For Anand, the comparisons between this match and his World Championship match againstContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: The World Awaits Game 12”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Blogs for Game 12
As the world awaits game 12 of the 2012 World Chess Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand, I thought I might mention the best chess blogs that are providing coverage of the event. Below is a list of 12 Blogs I have been visiting to read more about the Anand-Gelfand match: Alexandra Kosteniuk’s blog on Chess news.ContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Blogs for Game 12”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 11
Game 11 of the 2012 World Chess Championship match between Anand and Gelfand was nearly decided by the clock. Inexplicably, Boris Gelfand became uncomfortable with the position and used 40 minutes of his time to choose a relatively routine move early in the game. Gelfand is truly lucky that his clock management issue in game 11 did not end up becoming theContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 11”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 10
Before the start of the 2012 World Chess Championship, many notable experts on chess considered Boris Gelfand to be a weak contender and a huge underdog against Viswanathan Anand. Now that ten hard games have been fought, the underdog has proven himself to be the equal of the world champion. Perhaps Boris Gelfand will surprise the world again by demonstrating hisContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 10”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 9
Game 9 of the 2012 World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand was a very exciting affair. Boris Gelfand came close to a win but in the end Viswanathan Anand defended like a world champion. Scholastic chess players would be very wise if they try to comprehend the method in which Anand avoided a lossContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 9”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: The World Awaits Game 9
They were dancing in Tel Aviv after Anand confused himself to a loss in game 7 with moves like 7… b6 and 21… Ne4. A similar dance party took place in Mumbai when Gelfand tricked himself with 8… Bf6 and then blundered his queen with 14… Qf6 in game 8. It certainly seems that the contestants have been beating themselvesContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: The World Awaits Game 9”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 8
Round eight of the 2012 World Chess Championship saw reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand return to form and deliver a stunning knock-out blow to his opponent Boris Gelfand. Anand’s decisive plan began with the deceptively quiet move of “10 Qd2” and finished with Boris Gelfand’s queen being trapped on move 17. After Boris resigned, chess enthusiasts realised that thisContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 8”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 7
Boris Gelfand wins! Want to know why Anand lost? Check out the best analysis of Anand-Gelfand game 7 below: (For ease of reading try pasting the text below into your favorite chess program.) [Event “Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship”] [Site “Moscow, Russia”] [Date “2012.05.20”] [Round “7”] [White “Boris Gelfand”] [Black “Viswanathan Anand”] [Result “1-0”] [ECOContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Game 7”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: The World Awaits Game 7
Chess fans the world over are eagerly awaiting the start of game 7 in the 2012 Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship. Many visitors to this site from India are becoming more concerned that their national hero’s best years are behind him and he may not have enough desire to keep the world chess championship in an Indian’s hands. Likewise,ContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: The World Awaits Game 7”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 6
Game six of the 2012 World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand began in exactly the same manner as games two and four. By move six, Boris Gelfand decided to try a different line against Anand’s Semi-Slav. The real fun began when Anand decided to gambit a pawn on move 14. Unfazed by his opponent’s ingenuity, GelfandContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 6”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 5
Game 5 of the 2012 World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand began with 1 e4. Gelfand, as was expected, opted for a Sicilian Defence. This game, like its four predecessors, was incredibly well-played and ended in a draw. Anyone who was hoping this match would be a blood sport must be disappointed. Chess purists, onContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 5”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 4
The World Chess Championship of 2012 saw yet another draw in round 4. As in game two, Boris Gelfand played 1. d4 and Anand opted for another Slav style defense. The key point on this game came on move 16 for black. Viswanathan Anand played Re8 instead of Rc8 and thus avoided whatever diabolical plans his opponent had in store for him. AnotherContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 4”
Chess Players in Fremont, California are the Best in the United States
Two Schools in Fremont, California won National Championships at the recent United States Chess Federation’s National Elementary (k-6) Championships in Nashville, Tennessee. Both Mission San Jose Elementary School and Weibel Elementary School have reputations of excellence in chess due to being the dominate teams at both state and national events. After their incredible results at the 2012 NationalContinueContinue reading “Chess Players in Fremont, California are the Best in the United States”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 3
Game three of the 2012 World Chess Championship began with Anand playing 1. d4 and Gelfand playing a Grunfeld as in round 1. As we would expect, Anand’s team has done some preparation with the current world champion on how to counter Boris Gelfand’s new-found strategy. Their strategy of playing 3. f3 nearly produced the first decisive result of the match. Fortunately for Boris Gelfand,ContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 3”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 2
Another Day and another draw. This time round it was Anand who showed no difficulty moving the black pieces in a precisely played Semi-Slav. This, of course was not do to Gelfand playing for a draw. The line he chose to use against Anand’s defense he has used twice and won twice with. It isContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 2”
2012 USCF National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship : Day 1
Day one of the 2012 USCF National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship is in the books. Several of California’s top chess players still remain undefeated. In the K-1 Section Stephen He and Rishith Susarla scored 2/2. In the K-3 Section Mihir Bhuptani, Tommy Koh, and Ben Rood also have perfect scores. In the K-5 Section Amit SantContinueContinue reading “2012 USCF National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship : Day 1”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 1
Round 1 of the 2012 World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand was a spectacular contest. My only disappointment with the game is that it did not last longer. Anand, as I had predicted, played 1. d4 to kick things off. It was Boris Gelfand’s choice of the Grunfeld Defense which surprised chess enthusiasts the world over. Gelfand,ContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 1”
2012 U.S.C.F. National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship
Beginning May 11, Nashville Tennessee will host the 2012 U.S.C.F National Elementary Chess Championship. This is the paramount annual chess event for children ages 4-12. Below is a highly biased preview for this year’s event. The competitors listed in this article are all kids I have the pleasure of playing chess with on a weeklyContinueContinue reading “2012 U.S.C.F. National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship”