Anand v Gelfand

[Richard Bates]

I would love to see a return to the 24 game match format. I miss those epic matches, KvK, Fischer-Spassky, Botvinnik-everyone! FIDE are trying to treat chess like snooker, except it isn't.

Actually i think in many ways the two are very similar. By no means all Snooker fans think that the move towards ever shorter matches is a good thing, especially for the big showpiece events which are not simply about "entertainment" but have a specific role in their existence to determine the best players. And in the same way as shorter chess matches can lead to excessive caution, because of the increase in relative importance of individual games, so snooker players sometimes have to adopt different styles likewise.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I haven't had a bet, but Gelfand is 11/5 with Ladbrokes, that seems incredible value

absolutely! Karpov, lay your bet ...

[Peter Roberson]

I haven't had a bet, but Gelfand is 11/5 with Ladbrokes, that seems incredible value

Disagree - I'll happily offer at least 9/4 on Gelfand!

[Matt Mackenzie]

Surprised a thread hasn't been started yet, so here it is

The reigning champion will have White in the opening game.......

[Ian Kingston]

Surprised a thread hasn't been started yet, so here it is

The reigning champion will have White in the opening game.......

It has: http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4207

[John McKenna]

Have they started yet?

[Matt Mackenzie]

They have now Gruenfeld Defence, a "classic pawn centre" line........

[Ian Kingston]

Nigel Short is in the commentary box on the official site.

[David Sedgwick]

Nigel Short is in the commentary box on the official site.

He's just said that tournaments in Angola are much nicer than the 4NCL.

[John McKenna]

Thanks.
Nigel played the Gruenfeld as black against Jon Speelman in their Candidates match 1991 London 1/2 (27). Hope he has an expert in the line close by.

[John McKenna]

{Different line but wonder if either Vishy/Boris remember this...} 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.O-O dxc4 7.Na3 c3 8.bxc3 c5 9.e3 Nc6 10.Qe2 Qa5 11.Bb2 Nd5 12.Rac1 b6 13.Nd2 e6 14.Nb3! {I don't know if this is prepared or natural but black is now worse - Anand} Qa6 15.c4 Ndb4 16.Nb5 Qa4?? 17.Nc3 Qa6 18.a3 {1-0 Ivanchuk-Gelfand 1991 Linares}

[Christian Brown]

The commentary is very good - And Karjakin has joined them now.

http://moscow2012.fide.com/en/

[Paul Cooksey]

I'm surprised to see Gelfand play the Grunfeld, but very pleasantly so.

He is a bit schizrophrenic with his openings - he plays both the soberest lines of the Petroff and the sharpest lines of the Najdorf for example. It was the second Gelfand that got to the final, I'm hoping he stays with that approach.

[Christian Brown]

Draw. Boooooooo.

[Ian Kingston]

Game 1 drawn:

[Event "World Championship"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2012.05.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [PlyCount "46"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. d5 Qa5 10. Rb1 a6 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 12. O-O Qxa2 13. Rb2 Qa5 14. d6 Ra7 15. Bg5 exd6 16. Qxd6 Rd7 17. Qxc6 Qc7 18. Qxc7 Rxc7 19. Bf4 Rb7 20. Rc2 O-O 21. Bd6 Re8 22. Nd2 f5 23. f3 fxe4 24. Nxe4 Bf5 1/2-1/2

(Edited to add move 24 - the live board didn't include it for some reason.)