he is tantalizing short of 2800 elo mark again! see his rating at end of Kramnik match! time to lead the world elo ranking as well.

Question: Does Anand plan a third edition of "My best games of chess"? Will game 2 of this match be in it?

Congrats to Vishy Anand, who is actually the most successsful match player in the world. Poor Veselin threw away all away.
Personally I found this match entertaining and even thrilling. The chess level became more convincing at the end of the match when both players played more accurately (despite Topalovs horrible blunder in the final game). Nevertheless compared to the level in recent top tournaments the games didn´t have an outstanding or superior quality. For a match at that level, the number of mistakes overall was remarkably high. I would definitely prefer a longer Wch-match, perhaps 16 games.

great video! so relieved!

I think Kramnik was more graceful in defeat.
Topalov was like... "OMG what will these military guys do to me in the evening, where should I hide." cmon you lost to a better player, take it well and correct your attitude." see, even after everything, Anand had nice words to say about Bulgaria and the organizers! learn from him.

Its funny we call Anand 'Tiger'. this was like taming a tiger in his own military den for him!! We must look for better compliments for Anand!

One very important thing that Topalov gave to the chess world in this match is 'the fighting spirit'. I must give credit where its due. The way he pressed hard till the end in all the games, its commendable and something that should be regularly followed everywhere. It cost Anand one game atleast. though he tends to be cocky at times, still I like the spirit.

Finally, congratulations to Anand, peoples' and world champion!
and congratulations to Topalov for this great match!

beore the match it was rumors about Carlsen
http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6008

now about Kramnik?? cmon guys, see how much Kramnik won with black himself and how Anand won with black against Kramnik. what value add you are thinking of?

Anand has a team, solid team... Nielsen, Kasimdzanov(ex WC!) and Ganguly. don't take anything away from them. they helped dismantle Kramnik, and now Topalov! go team!

Peter,
Q: doesn't Anand feel that as defending champ he should retain the title in case on of a tie?

Are there any video's or photo's about the closing ceramony?

When will we see Jr. Anand?

My question to Anand: who does he think will be the next challenger?

@madewa that are good questions, cause i think Anand will get tired off all chessquestions asked by hundereds of journalists. So maybe Peter could ask some personal things rather then questions about his games.

I am wondering what his favorite curry is and what he likes to do when not playing chess.

ASk Anand who his protective deities are, other than Kaissa, I mean the deities from the Hindu side, maybe Ganesha, what a great match, I predicted Anand all the way but thought the last game favored Topalov, but as we know, the good player is lucky, and the good one was Anand.
All this nonsense about the number of errors is simply jibberish of people who expect men under tremendous pressure to perform like machines. remember folks, this is not computer chess, it's two flesh and blood beings facing each other...how many of us could play such relatively error free chess in those conditions?

Go Topalov!! The chess world is with you! We dont forget 2007!

Good luck Vishy!

we will see a short 10-20 moves draw.

16...Nf6 good move already played in 2008

16...Nf6 played by polish GM Miros?aw Grabarczyk

Miroslaw

I am afraid to say goodbye to chess because Topalinov going to win the match .

afghan what you talk? after move 18 the position is draw.

Looks like Anand came very well prepared with this line. Topalov is already more than 10 minutes behind, and it looks like Anand is still in his preparation on move 19.

Next thing you know Topa gets the c5 pawn!!!! GO GO GO!

Vesco, what happened 2007?

You are behind. They are allready on move 23
20...Td8 21.f3 La6 22.Tf2 Td7 23.g3

Can't you read?

@Egalmoth: A bit late, but LOL @ the Gollum-joke!

Peter,

This is great; I'd assumed you didn't do this (live thing) before bcos it was not possible. But maybe it's too difficult and you felt not worth the effort for the other rounds??

In any case, thanks a lot !! this was something i wanted from you guys.

Lasker defence? 7...Ne4 was already played 1932 4x. maybe he analyzed it.

@chandler It's not really live, so I could probably have done it before. But I didn't want to disturb the organizers.
@chess Check your theory book. This is called Lasker's Defence, period.

draw: ra3 bd3 ra3 bd3

Peter i checked my chess data base:)

Peter,
In that case, may I request that you do this delayed live thingy for any reports for which you're onsite? Provide comments (maybe based on lines other are looking at over there), and mention anything worth mentioning (like lights going out).

I know there're other sites (like twic) but I prefer your work.

i meant: ra3 bd3 rc3 ba6 draw, not bb7

I can read, but it s just my comment. Who wants so much delay in an LIVE COVERAGE anyway.

20. Rxc5 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Rxb2! is not to be recommended but also not played in the game.

The next moves are : 23...Tbd8 24.Kg2 Ld3 25.Dc1 La6 26.Ta3 Lb7 27.Pb3 Tc7 28.Pa5 La8
You are still drinking thea?

Who says this is a live coverage?

Ruben you definitly can't read (or forgot reading everything): "We update the game below a few times a day, with some delay"

I like that we can already see bits of the games commented. Great work Peter.

is f5 exf5 e4 possible ? It looks tricky!

Oh, and great that chessvibes is broadcasting and analysing the game :). Keep up the good work!

Yes, Anand will win!!

it looks like Topalov made some strong mistakes ef and fe. too sad, he did not like rapid chess.

Wow, the engines are giving +3 for Anand now if he plays Qe8.

the tiger and the victim

Victim of Danailov for sure.

Anand has a totally winning position now.

Gotcha!

i think Topalov will be very angry today:(

@Vesco
Topalov has an active king!!

wow...it's even worse than Leko's meltdown against Kramnik...Topalov just completely turned off his sense of danger, or just stopped calculating alltogether.

Interestingly, just a couple of moves earlier Kosteniuk on chessdom commented "We are entering the concrete stage of the game where words should be switched to the concrete lines and variations.". No kidding...

topalov tried to win, because he did not wanted to play the tiebreak.

Anand still needs to play precisely. Now his king is in the open too, but of course he has a very strong initiative.

he wont play the tiebreak... for sure now

yeah 36...Qd8 was better. Anand will be more angry when he does not win this:)

Aren't you guys somewhat too early with changing the URL of this page ;)

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/wch-g12-anand-beats-topalov-retains-wo...

still, it is completely winning. But I guess Topalov still has some small chances to save the draw (chances that Anand might blunder right back at him that is).

Yes, that sounds a bit premature. He was also looking very good until his 40th move in a previous game.

Anand has the wrong bishop, field a1.

Seems that there is no defense against Rxe3 and then Rh4 + and 42. Qg4 ++ ?

Keep the fat lady in the closet.

40.Qd1 was also better and last chance

Great match and champions last game! Whoever wins shall be well deserved WChampion. Such playing stule makes chess exciting. Do you agree?

... style...

Anand must win the white a pawn

55...Qxb2 and I think it is about time to begin stretching our legs for standing ovations

Anand retains his Crown :D
...and I retain my bragging rights :P

He did it!!

Anand is winning, and I don't think White can survive here. It's too early to congratulate Anand, but he is winning. White's queenside pawns are weak. If he is able to create a passed pawn on the queenside, then game is over.

ok bravo for Anand, Topalov can play in the candidates.

Congrats, Vishy

interesting what topalov said on board to anand over the mistake?

jajajajajaj :D ANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!
A true world champion! :)

lets see what Danailov will say...hahaha

Have you guys considered opening an official YouTube channel for all the videos you guys make? I think it would be a great idea! Great coverage like always!:)

Congratulations Anand from Dominican Republic

Carlsen against Anand in one two years?

congrats anand.. topalov is a good fighter but anand is better overall

ANAND WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

I would say mistakes decide the games.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand !!!!!

you did it yet again ...........

By the time I finished my recent post, Topalov had already resigned. Congratulations, Vishy, for retaining your title!! You truly deserved this! What a great match this was!

Wow.......Vishy kept his nerves and came good. Deserving victory as to me Vishy looked dominant all through the championship with some great moves away from the general theories. No words...for his humbleness all the way. I expected Topalov to be more aggressive today but i believe Topalov lost it in the middle game. Never mind, he would get his chance again but for now and till 2012 (if i am not wrong) Vishy is the deserved champion. Exciting Championship. Thank you for Chessvibes for providing all the macthes and videos with some analysis. Thank you and enjoy the finish.

I am wondering how the Organizers will react... it will be so sorry to see sad military faces in the closing ceremony. Hope they dont allow Danialov to say anything, dont want to hear a teary rant from him.
...and don't worry Anand, giant celebrations awaits at home!!!!! :D

Hope to get to know the seconds now for both the players. Next champoionship would be cracking....guess its between Vishy & Carlsen. Young blood over experienced head.....finger's cross.

even a volcano did not stop Anand:)

Deceptive double-dealing Danailov duplicitously denied delays.

I had the great fortune to personally wish him 'All the best' for this match! I am replaying that moment again over again in my head right now, replacing 'all the best' with 'Congratulations' :D . wish I can meet him again :)

Hail the King Vishwanathan Anand!

go 69:)

A well deserved result in my opinion, I think Topalov got too afraid of the tie-breaks and just had a melt-down. Who will be his next challenger? My money is on either Kramnik or Topalov!

I would love to see the face of Mr. Danailov when Topalov resigned. Any pictures made?

Congrats to the Champ~!

Carlsen or Aronian:)

Haha! Expected victory. I congratulate Anand for his victory. Also, to mention here that Topalov is a great opponent.

As I have been mentioning in my previous posts for game 8 and 9, that
a) Center command
b) Offence
will make Anand win against Topalov. This proved successful today.
Also, I mentioned that Topalov would make mistakes in crunch. That also is seen today. I think anyone following my posts will know.

I was knowing this before hand that once the above rules applied slowly or steadily Anand would win. Also for game 9, 10 comments, somenbody was arguing with me that Topalov is better and my analysis wrong. I don't want to take names. They themselves are seeing my analysis come true. Mr.Thomas wherever u are, I want to tell u that I am a scientist by profession.

I take this opportunity to thank Mr.Philip Robar for the wonderful book "Improve your chess". This book can give any mighty player some food for thought.

Cheers Anand we love u. You r simply the best in the world.

Anand-Carlsen 2011.... 5-7 ;-)

Anand could win in two games, one draw game he lost. so he was at the end better.

Congratulations ANAND our World Champion!!!!
Who would have bet on a victory with black today? Great game!

Thanks to the two GMs Topalov and Anand for having brought about some exciting plays over the match!

Thanks to anand-topalov.com for bringing the games live - i think the site also served as a good advert for Bulgarian chess and Danialov ;)

Thanks to chessvibes.com for everything - and of course the videos!!!!

Congratulations to World Champion Anand!

What an impressive game (and choice of opening) by Anand. He's truly the best match player in the world!

DISASTER for topalov and the sinister danailov! The match went perfectly for Anand. He was lucky not to lead by two points at any time and won at the very last game. No room for the sinister danailov and topalov to create another controversy to destabilize Anand. Anand beat them on their own turf. What a humiliation for them! Well deserved and congrats to Anand! Only chance for topalov to challenge and win in the future is to get ride of the sinister danailov, apologize to Kramnik, and get back to chess matters only no politics.

CONGRATULATIONS for the TIGER! Excellent blow at the right time!!

Great Anand, but the next champion will surely be Carlsen!

btw: its 6.5 - 5.5 and not 5.5 - 5.5 like its above

@AljechinsCat

please correct your comments on me in the Game 9 discussion.

what have you to say now??

cheers

Congrats Vishy! A very impressive win for a worthy World Champion.

I almost feel sorry for Topalov. Did he missed something obvious in the game? He seemed pretty agitated in the short post-mortem. But anyway, at least he showed he could lose a World Championship honorably.

Veselin, all you need to do now is come back to your senses and get rid of Danailov!

Yay anand wins just like i predicted(ok not exactly how i predicted but still). yay.

The score box on this page still gives 5,5 - 5,5

Willem, we were the first to report Anand's victory and even provided live updates of the final game, including pictures. Moreover, we've had a great match and a fantastic finish. And then all you can say is the score is still wrong? Thanks!

I LOL'd at your remarks siva. You are truly the best stand-up comedian... eh scientist... in the world! Give that man a column!!

@Arne Moll

I like ur jumping truly.

cheers

The Darkside has again lost.To master Anand my congrats I give. Dark Lord Silvio's apprentice revenge will seek.But in his way a young master will stand.And the Force with this one strong is.

A great win for Anand. He has shown that he is the best match player after the retirement of Kasparov. A lesser player and definitely a lesser human would have complained and moaned about having to travel for 40 hrs and not getting his request approved. But Anand, being the gentleman that he is, did nothing of that sort. He just went about his business. I thought that the loss in Game 8 and the failure to win a won game in Game 9 would have broken him. But he has shown that he is way too resilient. I have been saying that he is old at 40. That may be the case. But he has added mental strength and resilience to his repertoire, which are the most vital ingredients for match play. Even in this day and age of computer preparations, these are the basic qualities that really matter.

Well done, Anand.

RELIEF!! Anand wins, Topalov backstage for at least a year. Will succumb to Carlsen or Kramnik, Bulgaria /Danailov will not have their world champion.

Great coverage here...especially the videos. I cant wait for the post match interviews. Especially Anand still ows an answer to Peter's question on "How he overcame psychologically the game 1 result and came back to grunfeld" and several more that Peter will have.

Once again a strong suggestion is to make all the videos into a nice dvd.

In my patzer opinion with hindsight white's problems started with 23.g3 and 24.Kg2, weakening the king position. And the knight manoeuvre 28.Na5 and 29.Nc4 lost precious time. Of course 31.exf5 and 32.fxe4 lost the game. But the position after black's 30...f5 is already very unpleasant for white.

Maybe 36...Qd8+ would have won faster. But that is academic. 36...g5+ was also completely winning. And Anand clearly saw that since he started playing fast.

Anand is absolutely a deserved champion! But I am glad Topalov made it such an exciting match. :)

What does Carlsen have to do to get a shot at the title?

Congratulations for Anand for defending his title against two of the most dangerous players in the world! This is a remarkable feat, for he defeated both Kramnik and Topalov, two of the very bests with completely different strengths and styles. Taking his age in account, the level of his play is even more impressive. There were some worries, but in the end, it was a great match, so we can happily celebrate now. We definitely owe both players great fights, and we can thank Topalov and his team for this clean and fighting match. Thanks to Topalov's come back, it was never sleepy. In the end, the champion came on top. He delivered when it mattered most.

Man, I love chess! Thank you ChessVibes for the great coverage! I really appreciate your quick annotations of the games!

Great Match by Anand, He is definitely one of the greats of history.

I hope Topalov won't keeo hiding behind his high ELO and returns to play in many tournaments.

Congratulations to ANAND from Guinea-Bissau (West Africa / a Portuguese speaking country). You are courageous to play under pressure in Sofia. You are a real master of the world. Congrats also to Topalov. Keep fighting for the candidates matches.

Long live Vishy!
Toiletgate team is gone....FOREVER!

Arne and Peter:

Many thanks to you and Chessvibes for the great coverage of the W.Ch.

Hope to see a long version of video from match 12 and post match ceremony details.

I think Topalov took the defeat manly and was graceful in his defeat. Needless to mention Anand has always been humble in great achievements. Great players both Anand and Topalov, Great match, Great coverage...

I hope you upload to entire video of the conference, somebody said Anand spoke a lot in spanish, so I would like to listen to it. Thanks a lot Chessvibes for this excellent coverage!

Hail the king! Vishy retained his title in style by wining with Black in the very last game of the match. What a game, by the way! It was vintage Anand from start to finish!

AND -as a bonus- no more Topalov in a World Championship Match ever again! He won't be able to defeat the younger generation of potential challengers.

Caissa is surely pleased. :<)

Did I get nr. 100?

thanks vishy!

Congratulations to Anand. Personally, I am hoping that this loss will mean that Danailov and Topalov will forever shut up about toilets and simply accept having lost two matches fair and square.

A question for Anand then: Does he think Topalov will be a serious contender for the title of world champion again after this setback?

My guess is that he will not, but on the other hand, Kramnik seems to have come back a more dangerous player.

There is a chess god after all.

After Topailovs behaviour under and after Elista, this is so sweet.

congrats ANAND The KING of the orient

Congrats again. As the world champion of chess players from around the world made us very hard. You have done us proud. Otherwise we had to do with our teacher(?) Criketers. The game between the 12 countries, including Afghanistan and the Netherlands. (Thank God the Americans and the Chinese have not to play cricket).

comoooooooooooooooooon anand u caaaaaaaaaaaan do it`...........

chess is safe now.thanks alot ANANDJEE

Light Footed bishop again exerted 'woodoo' on h8-a1 for Anand.

correction: h1-a8

Very well done ....Vishy you are truly one of my Chessheroes!....congratulations for you and the team and thank you for playing so beautifully....I am doing my openingtraining now more often.....thank you.....

Congrats Anand for winning the championship...really the games all were good and excitinng ...great fighting spirit after the first game disaster!

To the ChessVibes team:

Thanks for everything you have provided by means of analysis and video coverage during the WCh championship.

Look forward to more in the future.

"Veselin, all you need to do now is come back to your senses and get rid of Danailov!" Guilluame .

Haha Topalov with his frail voice, Gollum-style, : "leave now and never come back!

Greetings,

Well I have to thank the people involved in the match specially both players, nice job, great match. Lets hope to see some even better chess in future.

Besides proving that you are a wizard and a magician, you have proved to be a gentleman champion. A victory for the game of chess and human endeavor, in general.

Question for you: Should chess be made compulsory at the school level to make ours a better world?

Vasant

QUESTION FOR ANAND:

Although it has not always been the case, certainly in the reigns of Karpov and Kasparov the world champions also were the #1 in the ranking, and clearly ruled in most of the tournaments they played.

Now the not so excellent latest results in torunaments for Anand and the fact that Carlsen has taken over #1 (even Topalov had a better ranking in this match) somehow seem to defy the utter superiority of the champion.

How does Mr. Anand feel about all this? Will regaining the #1 (and proving he's the boss) be his next goal?

With my sincerest congratulations to mr. Anand!

Congrats to Vishy.
He won and won in style. What an end of a WC Match!!!
And see the differences b/w players. One complaints cheaply against the likes of Kramnik and another doesnt utter a word after having to travel 40 hours and not being granted even 3 days postponement.
This is what makes him a World Champion. Truly deserved.

And for the people who are too poor of sportsmen to acknowledge this victory, please, please stop predicting what will happen after two years and Carlsen will defeat him blah blah blah.... we'll see when the time comes, there is still a lot to come out of Anand this match has proven.

Three Cheers to the World Champion!!!!

Question for Anand: What did your mom said when you talked with her after your championship win ?

Ask Anand if he agrees with Kasparov, who was reported by Shipov as saying that his (Anand's) opening preparation in this match was not good (as compared with the match with Kramnik).

Here are a few questions that I would love to have answer for

1. What were the main objectives that his team had in mind to win this match?

2. What percentage of novelties that he had prepared for the match went to use?

3. Who does he think will win the candidates cycle for the next championship?

4. If Carlsen is the next challenger and he wins over him in his next defense, will hen then retire ?

Congratulations Anand for this wonderful victory.
I like your humbleness even after such a brilliant victory.
Hope Topolov will learn more than just chess from you.

Congrats Anand.

As for Topalov:
From + 1 -5 to simply -5

Let me frame my last question again

4. If Carlsen is the next challenger and Anand wins that match will he then retire ? So as to say he has defeated two of his contemporaries and also the strongest of the future generation.

ask anand if he knows feel like hes making history

Great Match! It seems Anand played better positionally and he seems to be more secure at improvisations and "unprepared" positions. Congrats Anand! Topa lost by a slender margin.

hi,
i am a novice. please explain move 37 by topalov.

my question is - if the king is checked by a pawn ( black in this case ) how did the white pawn from f5 move to g6 and exchanged black pawn at g5 ???

what is that type of move called ?

Congrats!!!!!! Vishy.Now It is wonderful to see your match series against Kasparove since you are lot of improved after 1995! Though both are 40+ it will decide real great player!!

I was here when Anand won!! Great game. Lots of tension. Great match. Bravo Topalov for putting up a big fight. .

ChessVibes Team:

Here are a few of my questions -

1. Did Anand adopt a draw with black and win with a back-up strategy if Grunfeld did not pan out or was it the primary strategy?
2. Did Anand prepare Catalan for Topalov or even earlier for Kramnik?
3. In his strategy to neutralize Topalov did he ever consider using Petroff against 1.e4 if needed? Particularly if he was ahead in the match?
4. Compared to his match Kramnik, he appeared to have more trouble with his clock? What contributed to this and what did he change starting game 10?

Anand clearly stated in his Al Jazeera interview that he wanted to remain world champ for as long as possible, so he's not out yet.

Fans can look forward to Anand and Carlsen playing a four game rapid match in late August, in Norway.

imo people are jumping the gun when they assume carlson will be the next wcch contender. magnus will have to fight his way through some real tough competition: kramnik and topalov (this classical match against vishy was good training for him. and he's not a quitter!! he's a fighter!!), just to mention a couple former wcch's still competing for vishy's title. this will be a mega uphill battle for magnus.

Iam an Afghan Indian and for a3th time i replayed today`s game with tears of joy and can not discribe how happy i am.as a GANDHIJEE follower i must say that ANANDJEE fought the match peacefully and won and made Indian to be proud of him .bharat ratna for ANANDJEE.

Warmest congratulations, Vishy !

I fully underscribe T. Goto's analysis and praise for both players. Like in his match against Kramnik, Anand showed better opening preparation and proved his skill over the board against a worthy opponent, who came fairly close to taking over the crown. I'm quite impressed that Anand managed to win two world championship matches in almost opposite styles (tactical against Kramnik and positional against Topalov) !

I'm especially glad Topalov showed sportmanship. In game 11 the mutual respect became clear when he accepted Anand's draw proposal without caring to look at the arbiter or to complete the move repetition.

So this is not the moment to start minimizing either player's merits. Vishy is a great 15th world champion and Topalov is one of the strongest to have missed the (unified) title so far. Even though Carlsen has shown his potential to become the next champion, he'll still need to deliver it, which is easier said than done against the likes of Aronian, Topalov, Kramnik and inevitably Anand. None of them can be ruled out for the title yet.

Finally, it's a joy to know that kind people such as Vishy and Aruna Anand are carrying and managing the chess crown, respectively. Hopefully the next Candidates' tournament will be well organized and pave the way for a stable and regular organization of future world championship cycles and matches.

Seems as if the gentleman has beaten the bear.

Question to Anand: when was the moment (which move) in game 12 when you realised that you are retaining your title and what were your feelings at that very moment?

Iam an Afghan Indian and for a3th time i replayed today`s game with tears of joy and can not discribe how happy i am.as a GANDHIJEE follower i must say that ANANDJEE fought the match peacefully and won and made Indian to be proud of him .bharat ratna for ANANDJEE..

@?Harish Srinivasan

Very good questions indeed. I would love for Peter to ask those as well.

The "predicted" game against Anand and Carlsen would defenitely be my choise to watch. The outcome is really hard to predict though. One might say that Anand will be the slight favourite because of his experience in such games/matches. However it is worth noting Carlsens quote from the pre-match interviews: "I think match experience is overrated".

Has the psychological warfare already started??

My questions:
- Who were his seconds and why did he choose them (what was their special job)?

- How long did he intensively prepare for this match?

- How did he motivate himself for the match-training, when he was not in the mood for chess?

- What did he do after the lost games in this match, to get in good mood again for the next games?

- Why did he not play 1.e4?

- Did he had some special strategy to handle Topalovs announcement, to play according to Sofia rules?

- Will he buy something special with the price money?

- How much does he get for 1 tournament game for a club after defending his title (I think he will not answer it, but I would be really interested after getting 1.2 mill.)?

- Will he support anybody for FIDE president?

- What will be the next tournaments he plays?

Why did he blunder so terribly in a number of positions?

Questions for Vishy:

- Did he ever plan on playing e4 at any point in the tournament? What would he have played if Topalov had played e4 in the final game?

- Who were his seconds for this tournament? Was it different from the bunch who assisted him against Kramnik?

- Did he feel that his level of play was better against Kramnik than against Topalov here?

- Does he feel he is a universal player where he can play like Topalov against Kramnik and still manage to play like Kramnik against Topalov?

- Does he feel that a longer match would have been difficult for him?

- How did he feel when Topalov made those crucial errors? What was going on the mind? Did he feel he can win it all today? How much time was spent trying not to think abt the win and how much time was spent actually calculating variatons there? When did the excitement settle down during the game?

Ask Anand if he did the 'gayatri mantra'. trust me you will get his attention!

My question, Peter: If Anand could choose his next opponent in a World Championship Match among all the ones who achieved the crown so far (from Steinitz to Kramnik) who would he like to play against for an evergreen match? I know this is a cheesy question but I am really curious.

A question which would be interesting:

- What does he think about Sofia rules or something similiar in the future of WC- matches? Especially for avoiding short draws (see kramnik-Leko 2004).

- Anand played both, the match system (2008,2010) and the tournament system (2007). Which does he prefer and what is more hard or comfortable, the pros and cons of this different systems for him?

- Will we see him soon in big tournaments or will he now take a "little" break?

- What does he think about the next Candidate cycle and of the favorites(Carlsen)? hehehe

- What will he do now with the 1,2 Milion € Cash? :P xD

Hi Peter,
Do convey all our greetings and best wishes to Anand.
My question would be - what is the biggest factor which made him to endure such a physically draining long and tough games even at this age?
Remember before start of the match Topalov himself was proud of his advantage of +5 years age and most of the super GMs predicted Topalov would win. Only we mass chess fans predicted Anand would win in all opinion polls (chessvibes /susan polgar/ chesspub).
He could have even won convincingly if not of his Game 8 and 9 performance.

Interview with Anand's parents: http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1226843

Can you please ask this question:

Will he ever play 1.e4 again?

How different was the preperation for Topalov versus earlier prep versus Kramnik? Also - did the review of Kramnik game againsstg Topalov which must have happended for the match against Kramnik give him the idea to play Catalan?
Does he think the Sophia rules worked against topalov in the last game - forcing him psychologically not to accept a repetition, when that would have been the most logical step?

Cheers

I see at my last comment the addition (by Chessvibes editors apparently): "Your comment is awaiting moderation". Why is that? Censorship? What did I do wrong? Or did Danailov hack this site?

Troll cheesfan congrats Viswanathan Anand! Anand was better player and deserve win!
Thanks Topa for fighting chess! Thanks GM Cheparinov, GM L'Ami, GM Smeets and Jiri Dufek for helping him! Topa is truly one of Giants of Power Play and fair player.
Viswanathan Anand is one of Heroes of Classical Chess.

Question for Anand :

Which curry do you like the most?

Congratulations to Anand!

Was the Lasker Variation part of pre-match preparation, or was this inspiration on the fly? And what contribution did Kasimdzhanov make to your Game 12 preparation?

I hereby want to congratulate the wife of Mr. Anand for supporting her husband all the way thru the tournament till the last magnificent game!
Behind every ruler, is it on the chessboard or in a White House, stands the real champion

Is it true that you spent your 40 hour journey to Sofia watching Lord of the rings?

Had a further look at the website of the organisation today, only used it for the live games until now. It's weirdly seen from a Topalov perspective, it for instance never says under News that Anand wins, only that he gains a point. And they don't even post it big on their homepage, It just says "Anand has won the match." or something else underwhelming.

Great wint today though. Nice chess and quite easy to follow for a change. Seems a bit the trend this WC, lots of opening preparation and then just mano a mano. Nice!

A fitting finale to a great championship!! Very nice to see that the players (particularly Topalov) put the result behind, and show his sporting side immediately at the conclusion of the game, by involving in a friendly analysis. It would have been perfectly understandable for someone losing such a tight match to simply walk away with deep disappointment.

It is nice to see that players can maintain friendly and amicable relationships despite trying to "kill" each other over the board - in such a high stakes (prestige, title, money etc) match - much like Bonn 2008.

A big thanks to the organizers for organizing this great match which was full of action and excitement all the way! They deserve a lot of praise for the wonderful organization. After the bad blood from the volcanogate, they have done a wonderful job in the coverage, and letting chess be on centerstage.
Also, their handling of the brief blackout, and the extra step in publishing the letter from the dept in addition to their own apology indicated that they were trying to correct their mis-steps in handling the volcano issue.

As for Anand-Carlsen, let us take it easy. Of course Carlsen is an immense talent who is perfectly capable of it. But it is not as if he is going to play a bunch of IMs to get there. Any of the 4 (C, K, T, A) can be considered an equal favorite. If it is going to be 4 game matches, then it wouldn't be a huge surprise even if 2 of these 4 got eliminated in Round1. All it takes is one strong novelty - or a blunder and the match is over before there is a chance for fightback. Of course it would be a big surprise if all 4 get eliminated and someone else becomes the challenger - but it is not beyond someone like Gelfand, for example, to eliminate any of the above - and make it all the way.

Q for Anand:
Please take us through your thought process when you were thinking about: 25. .. Bd3-a6.
You seemed to have a slight plus but perhaps no concrete way to exploit it (according to expert commentators - not my evaluation :) ). So:
- Were you really offering a repetition?
- Was there any psychology involved in it?
- Did you expect him deliberately avoid repetition?
- Did you think the position offered more chances for White to go wrong than black?

A fitting finale in that the momentary lapses/blunders Bc6; and 40.Rh8 by Anand did not prevent him from winning the championship as it appeared he played better overall. It would have been a shame if this great match got remembered only for those Kf7/Bc6/Rh8.

Congratulations to multiple World Champ Anand!! Thanks for bringing so much joy to us!

Hard luck to Topalov fans. Better luck next time. This could easily have gone the other way and I didn't have a good feeling pre-G12 about Anand's chances in G12 with Black never coming close to victory in this match before this game (by either player).

Even though before the match and also during the match I have never liked Topalov for his strange attitude . He is one the best players though . But looking at the death scene in WebCam , his reaction was far better then what I have seen from him over last few days. for the first time I have seen something positive from him after the match. he spoke for a brief period of time , and congratulated Anand second time . So this guy is not that bad after all. but his accomplices are for sure ......

Anyway , he is part of one of the best chess duel forever. i dont think we would have so much excitement ever . He may have lost , but will remain in History . We truely enjoyed his fighting spirit . Even in dead draw positions he was able to work out something , so did Vishy also . truely memorable match .

So happy today to see Anand won......... I will celebrate with my wife for sure ....
God bless you Vishy ....

To me Anand proved in a very impressive way to be top of the world. As we all know the score could even be higer. I really can't wait for the upcoming match Carlsen-Anand. Hope it will be 24 games then!

Thanks to chessvibes for all the covering!

questions you can ask ???

ask Topalov why he played 31.exf5 and 32.fxe4

And my very last posting. Shame on GM Bareev and GM Dolmatov for speculations about Topa's cheating before start of Elista world chess championship match.

Could you ask Anand if he felt that Topalov had the better preparation? Kramnik said Toplov was better prepared, but Anand played the better chess, does he agree?

Also I would be interested in what Anand thinks about 8...g5 instead of 0-0 after 8.a3 in the 1.c4 game, Topalov almost lost against Vallejo Pons in a similar line (Topalov as white), what does he think about this g5 idea?

Congratulations Anand!! The chess world is with you! From Topalov, we dont forget 2007, Danailov and copyright nonsense in live chess transmissions!

16...Nf6 was played in some chess engine matches from year 2005 and i found one correspondence game from year 2007 iccf.

Congrats Anand.
Why did you stay away from 1e4 as white?..You are a master in open positions.
.

Congrats Anand.
Why did you stay away from 1e4 as white?..You are a master in open positions.
.

I would like to thank both players for many hours of chess entertainment.

@peter doggers
two questions for anand:
1) what criteria did you use in choosing your “seconds" for this match?
2) would you play a 24 game match if fide changed the rules again?

Here are a few questions:

- How does he expect it to be in India when he comes back? As joyful as after his win against Kramnik?
- Why did Anand never play 1 e4?
- What was he expecting against 1 e4? Najdorf 6 Be3?
- Was he keeping that as a possible option for rapid play?
- After game 1, was he surprised by the level of preperation of Veselin?
- Did the Sofia rules have a big impact on his quality play?
- Playing longer, was it a factor of making more mistakes?
- How did he feel about that new way of playing?
- Does he think it's positive for chess?
- Does he believe his next encounter for wch title will be with Magnus Carlsen?
-- Has he received worm congratulations from other top grandmasters such as Kramnik?
- His bad results before the wch match were they because he couldn't show his preperation? or more because he had to be in the right mood before the big fight?

etc...

31. exf5...Ouch, that hurt.

But thank you to both players for a great match. Thank you Veselin Topalov for fighting chess and risking it all to try and win, and to Viswanathan Anand for hanging tough.

Could anyone point me out exactly which games of GM Grabarczyk with ...Nf6?
I don't find any in my database and it's (i thought) updated

Why all of you are just making stupid questions to Anand?
It's like if after makin Coca-Cola you said:Yes,it's great! but can you give me your secrets for such a success?
Anand is not such a silly guy as you thought to reveal his secrets....come on guys

O.K This is Magnus Carlsen....
Anand, I got you next !

Here is an un-anandish answer to Carlsen ;)

"Alright little Carlsen - See you in 2 years if you get do hit the Candidacy - And, would you also like me to shake hands with the arbiter a la Topalov?"

Has been able to sleep after celebrating his victory?

Well, I would sleep for 21 days at a stretch - right in Sofia - Would not mind doing the last 40 hours of those days travelling back by road to Frankfurt watching (and rewatching) the Lord of the Rings. And of course, a volcano eruption wud be top it all - but i guess i wud not wish for that given the disturbance caused to fellow earthlings and the financial losses. Cheers!!! Crash!!! (hits the sack)

I was wondering, isn't this opening supposed to be a drawish variation ?
And Topalov says he took a risk, but to what point?
xf5 doesn't exactly create chances for him, does it? Is there a vid of that very moment?

congratulations Vishwanatan!
great match, and except only for the Topa's orrible exf5-fx4,
great games by both players,

my question for Anand's interview would be: from the second part of the 10th game (the ending where Topa had the two bishops) it has
seemed to me that you started play faster, and kept playing faster in the last
two games, just like a very young Anand, was it to a certain extent a psychological
strategy to make Topalov afraid of rapid games? As to tell him "well you see that I can handle you even using half of the time on the clock, so try to win before game 12 ends!"

in fact Topalov too played as fast as Anand, for example yesterday, and today,
played two moves that even a non-master class would have assessed at leas as
"risky" thinking only few minutes about them...

where is video? I need it! lol

Question for GM ANAND,

What will have to do chess to interest more than few adepts,t to be popular and known as it deserve to be known around the worl?
We are seeing poker and even Scrabble on TV now, why not chess?

Knowing that evolution is part of human wheel, what should be the future of chess for you? (vs actuel format).

There always place for improvements, wich are the avenues that should
be considered?

Thanks and congratulation for the nice match

no 'Video Added' yet. so sad :(

And justice prevailed. Thanks Anand for upholding honor and justice with such powerful chess. Topalov winning the championship would have been a major disaster for the already battered image of our beloved game. In you we have a honorable, fighting, mighty and proven Champion that players (and specially kids) can look up to as a role model.

After rooting for him in the San Luis tournament, and then wishing he won against Kramnik, whom I saw as a coward, non fighting player, Topalov's behavior became a MAJOR dissapointment... Even though he is a great chess player I really hope Topalov never again returns to WCh matches or even candidates matches, for that matter, and comes to be remembered only as a whinning, petty, player who tried to win the WCh with pathetic off-stage antics.

Warmest congratulations and deep sincere thanks, Vishwanathan Anand!

As permited, I would like to point some questions:

- external factors: physical shape, age, volcano
- the seconds
- strategy through the match / preparation on each game
- comparation Bonn 2008 - Sofia 2010
- 1. e4
- future plans
- expectative on candidates (however probably this must be an annoying question to someone who have just won the title :) )

Thanks to both players for this thrilling and historical match and Chessvibes for great coverage! Congratulations WCC Anand!

Congratulations Mr. Anand.
-My question to Champion Anand is if he will play, at least some exhibition games, on Latin America one day (again)???? He is fluent in spanish so I think he should take advantage of that and come to Latin America for chess promotion. I am from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

-Another question is what advice he could give on how to manage stress, like preparing for an exam or a medical doctor that works late in night so that sleep pattern is not regular and insomnia could interfere with daily activity.

Thanks Chessvibes

Jose, MD.

Question : Did kramnik worked with you for this match ?

@Farshad...I wanted to ask the same question... : )

Did Kramnik work with Anand for the match!

Congrats Anand...

(Have an autographed Chess board and a pic with the champ) ;)

Lucky me!

Good job Peter!

Questions for Mr. Anand:

What really went wrong in Game 1?

As for the next match, would he press to delay it until 2012 or would he agree to play again in 2011?

Although Anand has now been World Chess Champion for 4 years, yet India has not been able to organize one Super GM Tournament

Does anyone know where one can read transcripts of the post game press conferences? The audio quality is typically very bad.

Thank you, Chessvibes.

Anand's ma: "Anyone can be good in games." I love it!

http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1226843

Thanks for the great coverage Peter!

I have a question for WC Anand!

"Being a Monty Python fan gives one the ability to laugh about himself. Do you think this was an advantage of yours?
Do you think this helped you to overcome the difficult moments you had in this match?"

I would like to ask Anand weather he would like to have a 16 game match for the next WCC. It is what all the fans and chess lovers want. Doesn't he think it will be more fair?

Anand , you must beat Carlsen or Topalov or Kramnik in the next world championship match . don't retire 1

Question for Anand:

Why didn't we see any e4 games from you or Topalov? What killer lines did both players fear in their opponents blacks reportoire?

I am a south Indian just like Anand. Quite a few older generation south indians would treat the flight delays, the messy arrival to Sofia and miserable first game loss as "bad sakunam" or bad omen (sakunam means omen in Tamil) -- a foretelling of a bad outcome. Did Anand get into psychological trouble with this loss? Does he believe in these things?

Candidate question for Anand when you interview him:

Why did you decide to play the risky Grunfeld, the graveyard of world champions? Black gets excellent losing chances, and has to play brilliantly to draw -- and that's only a mild exaggeration. :-)

Question for Anand :

You twice missed a win and once gave away a draw. All the credits to you for not crumbling under the pressure. How did you manage to cope with these missed chances ?

"I almost had a heart attack ..." says Anand about the resources Topalov found when he had to contend with the Rook and Knight around his King.

Put heart rate monitors on the players in future matches, and let us kibitzers watch the output for each player on the video feed. Then people who say that chess is not a sport will get something to think about, and we will have a lot of fun in the process.

Another Q for Anand:

Which chessblogs or forums does he follow?

Did he follow them during the match.?

Does he read user comments? What does he think of them?

(so that's 4 Q's actually ;))

Hello,

On a second note in this thread, I would like to mention a few things from a patzer's perspective. A candidates tournament is scheduled to select the next challenger. Judging by the players, the tournament itself would be a historical one. Probably not as strong as the AVRO but a very close one. Now lets look at some contenders.

My favorite player and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, is an opponent to be feared by every one. He needs some changes in his playing style though as the anti Kasparov playing style is no more to point. Kramnik needs to play more dynamic, sharp chess in general, also he needs to add flexibility in his play such that he could play two consecutive games with two different style, say tactically and positionally.

Magnus Carlsen, the young talent, currently ranked no 1 in the live rating list, is many peoples favorite to win the tournament. I have my concerns on that though. First he is not experienced enough in highly tense world championship cycle. Look at Fischer in his earlier tries for the title. Fischer the greatest in the game (IMO), could break through only after his 1970-1972 huge jump. Also it appears that Carlsen underestimates Kramnik's point that match is different from tournament. If he continues to do so, he will get his lesson in practice, not the wisest choice. The solution in my opinion is that he play some friendly matches with top 5 or 10ners. At least 6 games per match, classical time controls.

The great fighter Veselin Topalov, has his chances too. Unfortunately sometimes he and co seem to be complaining about irrelevant matters instead of trying to play better. Also he appears to have difficulty at adopting his mind and so his play, when the nature of the game changes drastically. Some heavy analysis of such situations in his games and specially taking care and moving with the flow, when the changes happen in practice, might help.

The Armenian Loven Aronian, has an excellent understanding of the game. If he manages to play practically at the same level too, he could be a serious contender.

Veteran Gata Kamsky, plays matches better than tournaments, and I suppose like Kramnik, he needs to diversify his playing style, and play according to the specific situation of each game.

In any case, the world champion would have yet another difficult task to overcome the new challenger, as playing 2010 chess would not suffice for the new situation.

QUESTION FOR ANAND:
Congrats Vishy!!!
What was going on your mind before the last game? were you happy enough with a draw in the beginning of this game?
What do you personally feel about the play of Carlson?
In India, you are the one who is showing way and ispiring all chess players and chess lovers, how do you think we can bring/carve out more Anands from India??

congrats once again!!! we hope that you achieve more milestones in future!!!!!
One thing I am learning from you in life is Patience and Perseverance..
Long live Chess, long live Anand!!!!

Just a Perfect Day

Everyone won something today

All Glory now but the effort you put to win the chess championship is tremendous. Wish you will continue to perform the way for at least another 10 years. Congragulations. The entire chess world relishing your victory. Topo well tried next time better luck.

CONGRATULATIONS ON SUCCESSFULLY RETAINING THE TITLE!

My question is personal in nature; we know his upbringing and how nice his parents are, I want to know if Anand has children and how he and Aruna manage to bring them up? And any of children keen on chess?

Have you guys considered opening an official YouTube channel for all the videos you guys make? I think it would be a great idea! Great coverage like always!:)

Very nice and thriling match!
Somewhat naïve Topalov in the end, and what a sting Anand!
Nevertheless, for a WC I think it should be something like first to reach 5 wins or advantage at the end of 24 games, or champion retains title in case of a tie after 24 games. (Of course NO "Sofia rules" NOR rapid tie-breaks!)
Otherwise it's like a small tournament. Great merit, no doubt, but also with a great lottery compound.

Ah, and I also think that the inversion of colours, at middle time, is good, and not only related with rest days! Mainly it breaks and inverts the (arguably) "iniciative-answer", white-black cycle.

:-)
In order to my previous two posts not being contraditory, I say I'd agree that, due to inversion of colours after (say) game 12, the match could end with one of the players having played one more white game than the opponent.
Given that the champion would have the title-retaining-in-case-of-tie privilege, I think it would be fair and stimulating having the chalenger that other (merely posible) privilege of one more white.

My question for Anand:

"How did you recover from bad mistakes in Games 8 and 9? Do you do any special relaxation techniques like yoga or meditation that helps you deal with all the negative energy?"

Question to ask: Did he lose the first game due to the worrisome roadtrip, organizers attitude and lack of preparation? Did those affect his mind and to what extent?

Thanks Chessvibes for your wonderful coverage!

Another question I have is

Does Anand think 1.e4 will ever be played again in a world championship match in order to try for a win.

I wish Chessvibes gets back to the top GMs they interviewed prior to Anand - Topalov match to get their version on this great match.

Has any top GM already given comments on this match anywhere?

I am sure there is one GM who will be possibly feeling more elated than even Anand. No prizes for the guess!

OK back, no more questions, interview went well I think. :-) Also talked to the seconds of both teams, and a bit with Veselin, but he preferred not to do an interview. He was nice and 'just a bit fed up with chess for the moment'. I'm sure he'll be back with more great games and results.

Congrats Anand! Tough holding on to that title.

Cant wait to see the interview. I am sure it will be the best amongst all the other video interviews we have seen thus far at other places.

On a different note, all the hype about Danailov and what he could do. I am pleasantly surprised that the match was organized very well. I take back my false predictions on Danailov. After the games started, as far as I know he did not pose any hindrance.

I am happy Anand won, Topalov uses off the board tricks to win. I was also surprised how he shaked hands this last game. My father already taught me how to shake hands the way you ought to! I cannot take Topalov seriously after 2006 mach with Kramnik!

So great Anand Won!!!!!

We now have a worthy champion that didnt beat Topalov cheating! Congratulations to Anand for his performance! Topalov, you also did great!!

I am curious if there have been any cartoons by José Diaz after Anand won the match. I guess fxe4? should be in there somewhere.

What does Vesco mean about cheating? Was Danailov signaling Anand?

@Harish Srinivasan: Here are some links for new cartoons made by Diaz.
http://www.diazcartoons.nl/?pagina_id=10&knop=06_01_6&modules_nr=06&modu...
http://www.diazcartoons.nl/?pagina_id=10&knop=06_01_6&modules_nr=06&modu...
http://www.diazcartoons.nl/?pagina_id=10&knop=06_01_6&modules_nr=06&modu...

Congrats to Anand.

Pls can these questions be asked to Anand?

1) What was the reason for his G8 and 9 blunderful play - tiredness? fatigue? something else?

2) Did those 2 results haunted him? Because otherwise, he would have won the match by G11.

3) Did those g8 and G9 results affected their team (seconds)? Does such result make tired - upset them?

Finally,
4) Will it be better to have 14 or 16 g match, as many, including me feel 12 game bit shorter.

Thanks.

oh what a pity. no audio in the live closing ceremony video :(

Question for Vishy
1) Does he consider 12 games long enough for a World Title match.
2) With players following the 1st 15+ moves of theory in the 1st 5 minutes of time, should the time limits be reduced.
3) What are the differences between the Anand who lost to Kasparov and the player who beat Kramnik and Topalov.

I'm a bit sick & tired of almost everyone claiming ad nauseum in all the chess sites that fischer is of course the greatest of all time...like its some kind of gospel.

The facts are:
1. Fischer played only 1 WCh match. After that he chickened out of playing Karpov on flimsy excuses. He shouldn't even be put in the same sentence as giants like Capablanca, Kasparov, Anand, Karpov etc. who stood the gruelling test of time for many many years against different challengers. Climbing to the top is always easier than staying there.

If 1 time wonders are to be idolized, then maybe fischer is equivalent to kasimdzhanov, ponomariov and khalifmann.. :-)

2. The reason for this absurd fascination with fischer is explained by the fact that the western world lacked a true super-GM against the soviets, and he did give a royal a&*-whopping to them, so they can identify with him and its very soothing and nostalgic.

Same with the Carlsen mania recently, but imho, until he wins the WCh, and defends it successfully a few times against top opponents, rated number one means just that and nothing more.

Hi i m very much pleased to know about anand's victory. He is valuable assets of india. from chandresh mehta

@mo - I share your puzzlement when it comes to the need many have of promoting Fischer.
He has an embarrassingly low number of top level games played compared to such players as Kasparov, Karpov, Anand, Kramnik, Keres, Tal, Euwe, etc, etc.
He never defended his title, and off-the-board tactics were an essential part of his success.
If he wasn't "our" good guy we'd be viewing him as many view Topalov/Danailov today.
Just imagine if Spassky had behaved as Fischer had in 1972.

Discussing Fischer, he only played one title match, didn't win the strongest tournaments he participated in, failed in several cycles before finally winning in 1972 against Spassky, who isn't in any way comparable to players like Karpov. The obsession with Fischer stems from the fact that he is American, there's no comparing him with players like Kasparov any day of the week.

Fischer may be the greatest of all time if you compare the chess champs on their playing level and not how many tournaments they won.
Despite that he was hyped by the Western world it doesn´t change the fact that he was very dominating and his playing skill was really high above the second placed in 1970-72 and Spassky wasn´t that bad how many of you say here.
Fischer had a scandalous personality of course and maybe he was liking money and power more than chess, but still it doesn´t mean anything. Just try to see it objectively.
I think its hard to choose between Capablanca, Kasparov and Fischer to claim who is the best. This players are even for me compared by playing skill itself. Maybe in future computers could help us, hehehe.

Hallo Mr. Peter Doggers, dear ChessVibes-Team!
Do you know where I can see/follow the closing ceremony in Sofia this afternoon by Internet? The official site is all the time during the WCC going down on all (!) of my computers!
Best regards and thanks a lot for all your efforts!
Yours truly,
Dr. Wolfgang Berghorn, Waldkirch/Germany

Don't think this can be followed live. Only on Bulgarian TV perhaps, or the official site.

Dear Mr Peter Doggers!

Its a pity - since the beginning of the WCC match 2010 in Sofia I´ve got the following message when entering one of the subtitles of the official website in Bulgaria:

"The page cannot be found" "404 Error" -

How can I try to get into the transmission of the closing ceremony???

Best regards,

Dr. Wolfgang Berghorn, Waldkirch/Germany

@Peter: It says on the official site now that the opening ceremony will be shown live on the website. Start time 11:00 EST. ( 15 min. from now )

Can somebody see this photo and tell me where is Ilyumzhinov's right hand gone?

Can somebody see this photo and tell me where is Ilyumzhinov’s right hand gone? http://photo.chessdom.com/albums/userpics/10025/normal_P1260321.jpg

LOL @ photo

@Peter Doggers: Have you guys considered opening an official ChessVibes YouTube channel for the videos you guys make? I think that'd be a great idea!

We have a YouTube channel, with most of our older videos. We're not a big fan of YouTube as a way to show videos, though.

Was 25..Ba6 a draw offer?

How much did the Topalov team get back from the "100000 euros" they paid the Rybka team? With the first Rybka 4 beta appearance on PlayChess (ChessBase), it gave up an easy stalemate in a won position (see below). I can't think the Bulgarians are now too impressed at the "Rental Rybka" they bought.

3q4/k1pQ4/PpP3B1/1P4K1/8/8/8/8 w - -

And here Rybka 4 Beta played Qxd8??? I guess you get out of it what you put into it.

Duffy, you are wrong. Rybka 4 and the Rental Rybka are completely separate, in many ways. Topalov got everything he paid for, and still lost.

Anand played great series and we expected same in future hates off to the GREAT INDIAN LEGEND....