Moscow, May 21: Defending champion Viswanathan Anand struck back with vengeance and scored the much-needed equaliser against Boris Gelfand in the eighth game of the World Chess Championship now underway here.
On a day when everything worked in favour of Anand, Gelfand simply could not hold his thoughts together and ended up blundering his queen for little compensation. It turned out to be the shortest match in the recent world championship history lasting just 17 moves.
The win helped Anand level the scores at 4-4 and much to contrary expectations, the Indian ace has made a big comeback in the 12-games match.
It was surprise time again for Anand when Gelfand chose the Kings Indian defense to enter the Saemisch variation.
However, there was little impact on Anand who was definitely much better prepared this time. The shocker came on move seven for Gelfand when Anand went for a rare sideline which was obviously a part of his home preparation.
Gelfand responded well, but it was clear that he was taken out of his preparation early in the game, something that team Anand had been striving for the last seven games.
Anand took his chances on the eighth move when he had some choices, and trading the long-diagonal black Bishop with his own, Anand forcibly dented Gelfand's pawn structure but it also gave the Israeli hope about his own position given the double edged nature of the game.
“I don't think I played particularly aggressive today, the moves I played are typical of the position we had on board,” said Anand when asked whether the loss in the previous round had brought out the best in him.
