Anand v Gelfand

[Paul Cooksey]

I'm still supporting Vishy, on Adam's grounds that the WC should not change hands in rapids. But Boris a very sympathetic underdog

[Paul Cooksey]

argh 1-0. Boris as low as 2 seconds, couldn't hold

[Paul McKeown]

Drama. Gelfand loses.

[Paul Cooksey]

It's exciting, but it is no way to settle a WC. Poor Boris

[Eoin Devane]

Very exciting, but that was really horrible to watch. Such a shame for Boris to lose the game like that. With only 10 minutes of a break, it's going to be difficult for him to recover for the next game, I suspect.

[Alex Holowczak]

It's exciting, but it is no way to settle a WC. Poor Boris

I'm beginning to wonder if this is the future of over-the-board chess; games with something like 25 + 10' on the clocks, rather than the seven-hour stuff.

It seems that the two games so far have been more exciting than the twelve that went before it. Speaking personally, I'm not really interested in sitting down and watching the seven-hour stuff, but I've watched the second of the two games this morning, and found it interesting. The games are long enough for commentators to provide analysis, but short enough to hold my interest for an hour without wandering off and doing something else.

[Eoin Devane]

I'm beginning to wonder if this is the future of over-the-board chess; games with something like 25 + 10' on the clocks, rather than the seven-hour stuff.

I'd like to think that the two forms can co-exist as separate entities. Rather like T20 and Test cricket - you wouldn't decide a drawn Test series with a T20 game.

The third game is under way now.

[Steve Rooney]

It's exciting, but it is no way to settle a WC. Poor Boris

I don't agree. They had 12 games at classical time limits so seems reasonable to have a tie break at rapid limits. The qualifying stages, if I recall correctly, were much less satisfactory as there were not enough long games before it moved to rapid and blitz.

I don't much like the idea of an armageddon game but then again that may be fairer than giving the reigning champion the nod if it's a drawn match. It is however likely that there will be a result before that with two more rapids and ten blitz games.

[AustinElliott]

That game 2 loss was incredibly tough on Gelfand after such heroic defence earlier on in the Queen-less middle game a pawn down.

Wonder how much he'll have been regretting the points where he seemed to have spurned uneventful draws and played for the counterattack?

The strength of the players' nerves is what impresses me as much as anything else. But imagine it will be hard for Boris to 're-gather' himself for this do-or-die game with White.

EDIT: Twenty moves in, he seems to do managing it. Think one of the things to come out of this series (not just this match) is just what a tremendous in-the-clutch competitor Gelfand is.

[Paul Cooksey]

I might return to the wrongness of playoffs later But game 3. A successful opening for Boris I think, at least in the sense the position is unbalanced and sharp.

Houdini giving a huge plus. Don't doubt white is better, but more than +1.5 just on positional grounds, very surprising

[AustinElliott]

The engines don't seem to think much of Anand's ...g5. Scoring it +1.5 - + 2.3 to White.

[Paul Cooksey]

Hard to understand Blacks play. I guess I was flaunting my ignorance being surprised by the computer assessment, since Vishy seems to have felt desperate measures were indeed necessary.

[Paul Cooksey]

I don't feel so stupid, on the basis of Svidler's analysis. When the computer was giving white a huge plus, he was unsure what was going on. Now it has clarified to a normal +.5, he is sure white is clearly better

[Ian Kingston]

BBC News item on the match, previewing the tie-break: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18261141.

[Steve Rooney]

BBC News item on the match, previewing the tie-break: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18261141.

It was on the news headlines at 8am on R4. A brief report included a valiant attempt by the Moscow correspondent to explain the tie-breaks.