WCC2012-2: Tense struggle… still drawn

GM Yasser Seirawan, who is competing in the U.S. Championship, was asked by commentator WGM Jennifer Shahade his view of the World Championship. He stated that he hoped there would be more excitement and noted that both games were drawn and rather short. However, if he were commentating, he would have enjoyed the wealth of ideas in this game.

Game two in the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand saw another draw as many commentators asserted that this was the “feeling out” process. GM Nigel Short even opined that there should be longer matches to allow for adjustments by each of the camps. While today’s game was only one move longer than yesterday’s 24-mover, the battle of wits is on.

Although the game was short, the tension was thick!
Photo by Alexey Yushenkov.

While there were no real surprises today, the fans and commentators definitely felt a “pull” in the position with white fighting to find an edge. There were a number of ways that Anand could have lost the thread of the position and many felt white could have played longer.

Short pointed out the cute line, White appears to be winning after 20. Bf4 threatening to win a piece, but this move is tarried by 20…Re4! Finally, on 20. Rc7 Bg6 21. a4 f6 22. Rfc1 is enough for a draw. It was the dynamic equality after 20.Nxf5 Nxf5 21.Bc5 h5 that convinced Gelfand to offer the draw.

Official Site: https://moscow2012.fide.com/en/
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2012/05/10/2012-world-championship-anand-vs-gelfand/