Boris Gelfand took the lead in the World Championship match in Moscow, Russia on Sunday by beating Viswanathan Anand in 38 moves. Again a Chebanenko Semi-Slav came on the board and in his 4th white game, the challenger was again the first to deviate, going for 6.c5 instead of 6.b3 (games 2 and 4) or 6.Qc2 (game 6). Black kept struggling with a bad light-squared bishop throughout the game, and at move 38 Anand resigned. It was the first time since 1993 that Gelfand won a classical game against Anand.

As Anand resigns, Gelfand wins first match game | Photo by Alexey Yushenkov

Anand and Gelfand shake hands at the start of the first game that wouldn't end in a draw

Even members of the Anand team showed signs of relief on Sunday afternoon as the "draw ban" had been broken, despite the fact that it was their man who had lost. These members, as well as all other Anand fans, might want to remember 1995, when it was Garry Kasparov who lost the first game after eight draws, but won that World Championship match convincingly anyway (against... Anand).

On this Sunday we got to see Boris Gelfand at his best: from the opening he got a slight, strategic advantage which he never really let go of. At the same time we didn't get to see Vishy Anand at his best: from a slightly passive position, this time he didn't defend accurately, as he had done in his previous black games. "I started to drift a little bit after the opening," he admitted afterwards.

Anand didn't hide his disappointment at the press conference

The World Champ gave his opponent too much time to build up, and after another inaccuracy, suddenly there was no way back. White exchanged all of Black's active pieces (including the queens), and focused on that one problem Black couldn't solve from the start: his light-squared bishop. Ironically, it was this bishop that was eventually trapped, and with accurate play Gelfand decided the game on move 38.

Boris Gelfand grabs the lead, and needs 2.5 points out of 5 games to become World Champion

At the press conference, Gelfand avoided speaking about emotions, and instead preferred to describe the game in his usual, objective way. Anand limited himself to short, sometimes one-word answers, underlining deep disappointment on his side.

After Anand's loss today and Nakamura's win in Saint Louis yesterday, the top 10 of the live ratings looks as follows:

1. Carlsen (2835.0)
2. Aronian (2823.2)
3. Kramnik (2802.8)
4. Radjabov (2784.0)
5. Nakamura (2782.6)
6. Anand (2779.7)
7. Karjakin (2779.0)
8. Caruana (2772.0)
9. Morozevich (2769.0)
10. Ivanchuk (2767.4)

The importance of (live) ratings shouldn't be overrated of course, but still it is hard to believe that Vishy Anand, one of the strongest players that ever lived, is now out of the world's top 5...

The score is 4.0-3.0 for Gelfand. On Monday game 8 will be played, of a total of 12 games. Venue is the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia. The winner will receive US $1.5 million, while the loser will earn US $1 million.

PGN string

Match score