Vishwanathan Anand retains World chess championship

Moscow: Vishwanathan Anand retains World chess championship.

Defending champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by challenger Boris Gelfand in the third tie-break game in the World Chess Championship in Moscow today.

The fourth and final tie-break will commence shortly. Anand though just needs a draw to retain the prestigious title.

The Indian though holds the advantage having won the second tie-break game after the first ended in a draw. Anand, known as the Rapid King for his lightning fast moves, played brilliantly to win the second tie-break which looked like heading towards a draw.

Tied at 6-6 after 12 games, they are now playing four rapid games with a shortened time limit of 25 minutes per player and a ten seconds increment after every move is made.

In case of a 2-2 result, the two will play two blitz games with five minutes each with a three seconds increment.

There will be five such matches if the tie persists and finally an Armageddon game will be played with five minutes to white and four to black and white will be forced to win should this arise.

Hundreds of chess fans are watching Wednesday’s tiebreak in a hall at the State Tretyakov Gallery, one of Russia’s finest museums.

The winner takes home $1.5 million, while the loser is awarded $1 million.

Anand last successfully defended his title in 2010 against Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov.