What Is the Best Age for Chess ?

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

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What Is the Best Age for Chess?

A football player survives in the NFL on the average only three years. The careers of top chess players last 25 years or even longer. They can challenge the world's best already as teenagers and can continue for six, seven decades until they turn into ageless warriors. At what point do they play the best? What is the optimal age for success in chess?

Two major events this year demonstrated how top players, a generation apart, could perform well at high level. When Vishy Anand, 42, defeated Boris Gelfand,44, in the World Chess Championship match in Moscow last June, their combined age of 86 made them the oldest players of this traditional event. Magnus Carlsen, 21, and Fabiano Caruana, 20, shared first place in the Sao Paolo/Bilbao Grand Slam Masters final in October. Carlsen won the tiebreak and the trophy. Let's see some remarkable achievements at different ages.

Age 15 - Fischer's record 

Bobby Fischer stands head and shoulders above any player age 15 or younger. In 1958, Fischer, 15, qualified from the 1958 Portoroz Interzonal for the 1959 Candidates tournament, securing a place among the top nine players in the world. Nobody ever beat that record. The benchmark is too high. But as a byproduct of his excellent result, Fischer automatically became the youngest grandmaster in the world. That was a different story.

The title and the age attracted many young players and the race was on. Judit Polgar, the all-time best woman, described her drive in her recent book How I Beat Fischer's Record, published by Quality Chess. Judit was rated number 93 in the world when she became grandmaster, overtaking Fischer by 35 days. Another Hungarian, Peter Leko, beat Polgar's record by six days. Sergey Karjakin is the only player who got the GM title under the age of 13 in 2003.

"The grandmaster title is like a driver's licence," the late Yugoslav grandmaster, dr. Petar Trifunovic, once told me. "You can drive a car, but you still need some experience to do it well." He said it in the late 1960s, when there were only 70 grandmasters. The 15-year-olds show talent, but it is still raw and in need of development.

Age 16 - Drink or drive

In America, the kids can drive at the age of 16. In Europe, they can drink alcohol. While in 1959 the 16-year-old Fischer played his first Candidates event, three talented Soviet players had only their first experience in international tournaments abroad at that age. Boris Spassky shared fourth place in a strong event in Bucharest in 1953. Anatoly Karpov, shy of his 16th birthday, won in the Czech town of Trinec in 1967. Garry Kasparov won in Banja Luka in 1979. All three became world champions.

Age 19 - Carlsen's record

Magnus Carlsen became the world's top rated player at 19. This month he turns 22 with his highest FIDE rating of 2848, just three points shy of of Kasparov's record from 1999.

Age 22 - Kasparov's record

Garry Kasparov became the world champion in 1985, the youngest ever at 22. For the next 20 years, he was rated number one in the world.

Other memorable achievements at the age of 22:
Paul Morphy (1837-1884) returned from his victorious European tour as the unofficial world champion in 1859.
Harry Nelson Pillsbury (1872-1906), scored his greatest victory at the 1895 Hastings tournament, one of the all-time strongest.
The exceptional AVRO tournament in 1938 was won by Paul Keres, 22, and Rueben Fine, 24.

The age of 22 seems to be significant. Professional players are often born at this age and chess becomes a major part of their lives. They begin to stabilize their play. At the same time, a lot of talented players leave the game. They usually finish their studies and look for jobs.

Some very talented players became world champions in their early twenties: Mikhail Tal did it at 23, Anatoly Karpov at 24, Emanuel Lasker and Vladimir Kramnik at 25.

Age 30 - Energy and experience

Around the age of 30, top chess players consolidate their play and may achieve their goal combining experience with energy. Fischer became world champion at 29. Spassky was considered the world's best player in 1966 at the age of 29, but failed to beat the world champion Tigran Petrosian in their match.

Veselin Topalov won the FIDE World Championship tournament in San Luis, Argentina, at the age of 30. Levon Aronian, a leader of the highly successful Armenian team, just turned 30. He is world's number two rated player, 33 points behind Carlsen.

Age 35 - The peak age

This is the age, plus minus three years, when chess careers peak.
Alexander Alekhine was 35 when he became the world champion by beating Jose Raul Capablanca in 1927 in Buenos Aires.

We see Jose Raul Capablanca and Tigran Petrosian clinching the world title at 32. Max Euwe did it at 34. Two old rivals, Mikhail Botvinnik and Vassily Smyslov became chess kings at 36.

Vishy Anand won the United World Championship at 37, but he also won the knock-out FIDE World Championship at 31.

Age 40 - Motivation

Everything above this age is a bonus. The players begin to think about retirement and some of them depart from the spotlight. Kasparov left professional chess shortly before his 42nd birthday in 2005.

Some grandmasters in their forties are still hanging on and perform well. Anand is the current world champion at 42. Vassily Ivanchuk, 43, was in the Top Ten on the FIDE list most of this year. Boris Gelfand, Anand's challenger, shared first place at the FIDE Grand Prix in London in October at the age of 44. Motivation is key.

Karpov played his best tournament in Linares in 1994, at the age of 42. He finished 2.5 points ahead of his next rivals, Kasparov and Alexei Shirov, scoring 11/13. But six years later, Karpov dropped out from the Top Ten FIDE rating list for the first time in 28 years.

Age 50 - Steinitz

After being considered the world's strongest player for 20 years, William Steinitz finally became the official world champion in 1886 at the age of 50.

Botvinnik played his last tournament in Leiden in 1970 at 58.

Age 60 - Smyslov's record

At the age of 63, Smyslov was just one match away from playing at the 1984 World Championship, but he lost the Candidates Final to Kasparov.

Age 70 - Age of humor

The players are not expected to triumph anymore, but they can have fun. At the age of 72, Miguel Najdorf, the late Polish/ Argentine grandmaster, scored a decent result in a super-tournament in Bugojno in 1982. Kasparov won the event and it was his first victory in an elite tournament. After it was over, Najdorf came to me.
"Kavalek, today is your lucky day!"
"Why, Miguel?"
"Because today you shared place in a wonderful chess tournament with the great Najdorf!"

Age 80 and beyond

Viktor Korchnoi, the two-time finalists in the world championship matches (1978 and 1981) still competes with fervor. He is ageless.

Rook and Knight vs. Rook

Last Saturday Karpov won the Trophy of Anatoly Karpov in Cap d'Agde, France. It was an elimination rapid event and in the final match Karpov, 61, narrowly defeated Ivanchuk, 43, with a 4.5-3.5 score. Karpov played well against Ivanchuk in the past, but his victory was surprising.
A mating attack in one of the games reminds us of a game played by Mikhail Tal in 1968.

Ivanchuk - Karpov
Cap d'Agde 2012

Karpov has Ivanchuk's king in a mating net. He makes sure the king doesn't escape.

65...Rg2+

(65...Kf2 also wins, for example 66.Rf8+ Nf6 67.Rh8 Rg2+ 68.Kh1 [Or 68.Kh3 Rg3+ 69.Kh4 Kg2 threatening 70...Rg4 mate.] 68...Rg1+ 69.Kh2 Ng4+ 70.Kh3 Rh1+ wins.)

66.Kh3 Ng5+ 67.Kh4 Nf7

(The unfortunate position of the white rook on e8 allows black to win also with 67...Nh7 68.Kh3 [68.Kh5 Nf6+ wins] 68...Rg5 69.Kh2 [Or 69.Kh4 Rg1 70.Kh5 Nf6+ wins.] 69...Kf2 70.Kh3 Nf6 71.Rh8 Rg3+ 72.Kh4 Kg2 and white mates.)

68.Kh5

(68.Kh3 Rg5 69.Kh2 Kf2 70.Kh3 Ne5 71.Rh8 Nf3 threatening 32...Rg3 mate.)

68...Rg5+ 69.Kh4 Rg6

(The threat is 70...Rh6 mate and black has no good defense.)

70.Rh8 Nxh8

(After 70...Nxh8 71.Kh5 Kf4 72.Kh4 Rh6 mates.) White resigned.

In 1968, Mikhail Tal played against the readers of Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Soviet daily. They reached a position where only one knight move led to a win.

Pravda readers - Tal

Tal chose the wrong one: 26...Ng3+? and after 27.Kh4! (Not 27.Kh6? Rg6+ 28.Kxh7 Ne4 29.Kh8 Rg8+ 30.Kh7 Nf6+ 31.Kh6 Rg6 mate.) 27...Nf5+ 28.Kh5 black had to agree to a draw since 28...h6 is met by 29.d4.

The winning path is beautiful: 26...Nf4+! 27.Kh6 (27.Kh4 h5! 28.d4 Rg4 mate.) 27...Rg6+! 28.Kxh7 Rg7+! 29.Kh6 (29.Kh8 Ng6 mate.) 29...Kg8! 30.d4 Rg6 mate.

World Chess Championship 2012

 Games of World Chess Championship 2012

Game 1, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½

Position after 14. ... Ra7

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 1: In this position, Anand played 15. Bg5, allowing Gelfand to equalize the position. Better was 15. Bf4, which puts additional pressure on Black and creates some theoretical chances to play for a win.

Grünfeld Defence, D85

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.d5 Qa5 10.Rb1 a6 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.O-O Qxa2 13.Rb2 Qa5 14.d6 Ra7 15.Bg5 exd6 16.Qxd6 Rd7 17.Qxc6 Qc7 18.Qxc7 Rxc7 19.Bf4 Rb7 20.Rc2 O-O 21.Bd6 Re8 22.Nd2 f5 23.f3 fxe4 24.Nxe4 Bf5 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.^[30]

Game 2, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Gelfand started his first game with White in the match by playing 1.d4 and the game went on to Slav Defence. The position in the game followed the game played between Kasparov and Gelfand in Linares in 1991 where Gelfand lost, but in this game the challenger opted a different line. Anand played several accurate moves to set up a good position for neutralising White's active pieces. After 19 moves were played Gelfand decided to exchange his knight for a bishop by 20.Nxf5 to avoid a presence of opposite coloured bishops, but the position afterwards appeared to be with no weaknesses and a well placed knight for Black. The game saw no progress on both sides and Gelfand offered a draw. At the press-conference he described the line he chose as "a slight symbolic edge".^[31]
Semi-Slav Defence, D45

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O Bd6 10.Rc1 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Nf6 15.dxe5 Nxe4 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Qxd6 Nxd6 19.Nd4 Rfe8 20.Nxf5 Nxf5 21.Bc5 h5 22.Rfd1 Rac8 23.Kf1 f6 24.Bb4 Kh7 25.Rc5 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 3, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½

Position after 23. ... d6

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 3: In this position, Gelfand played 23 ...Rfc5?! instead of simpler 23 ...Nb6 followed by Rd5 and Rc6 to round up the d6 pawn.

The game opened with a Grünfeld Defence (as in the game 1), but Anand deviated very early by playing 3.f3 instead of 3.Nc3. Following the opening moves White gained an edge and was pawn up, but Anand ran into time trouble, having to play 7 moves per minute to reach the time control at move 40 and having missed the winning continuation in the double-rook ending.^[32]
At move 20 White chose to capture correctly with 20.Nxf6, rather than 20.Rxd2 after which the continuation 20...Nxe4 21.fxe4 Bxd4 22.Rxd4 Rf2 23.e5 Bb5 gives Black strong counterplay. In the next moves the game continued with 20...Rxf6! 21.Rxd2 Rf5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.d6 (see diagram) and then 23 ...Rfc5?!. At the press-conference Gelfand said: "I understood the position was dangerous. I underestimated a few moves. I thought that 23...Rfc5 could win back the pawn, but I underestimated 24.Rd1 and here I had to fight for the draw. I was quite on edge for some time during the game." The game was drawn after 37 moves, as White could not find a line to play for a win. After the game Anand concisely said: "I came closer today."^[32]
Grünfeld Defence, D70

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.O-O-O Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Ka1 e4 17.Bd4 Na4 18.Nge2 Qa5 19.Nxe4 Qxd2 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Rxd2 Rf5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.d6 Rfc5 24.Rd1 a5 25.Rh4 Rc2 26.b3 Nb2 27.Rb1 Nd3 28.Nd4 Rd2 29.Bxd3 Rxd3 30.Re1 Rd2 31.Kb1 Bf5+ 32.Nxf5+ gxf5 33.Re7+ Kg6 34.Rc7 Re8 35.Rh1 Ree2 36.d7 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Rxa2 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement

Game 4, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Semi-Slav Defence, D45

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O Bd6 10.Qc2 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 exd4 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 15.h3 Bd7 16.Rad1 Re8 17.Nxd4 Rc8 18.Qb1 h6 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Bxf5 Rc5 21.Rfe1 Rxd5 22.Bc3 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Bc5 24.Qc2 Bd4 25.Bxd4 Rxd4 26.Qc8 g6 27.Bg4 h5 28.Qxd8+ Rxd8 29.Bf3 b6 30.Rc1 Rd6 31.Kf1 a5 32.Ke2 Nd5 33.g3 Ne7 34.Be4 Kg7 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 5, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½

Anand started the game by switching the opening move to 1.e4 perhaps to sharpen the play, but Gelfand continued with Sicilian Sveshnikov instead of Sicilian Najdorf or Petroff Defence and the position arriving left the World Champion unprepared. The game reached a standard position after the theoretical moves in the opening, with a bind in the centre for White and a backward d6 pawn and weak d6 square for Black that is compensated with his activity. In the next moves Gelfand successfully equalised the position and left his opponent with minor chances. The game ended in a draw after 27 moves were played.^[33]
Sicilian Defence, B33

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 O-O 13.g3 a5 14.Bg2 Bg5 15.O-O Be6 16.Qd3 Bxd5 17.cxd5 Nb8 18.a3 Na6 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Nxb4 axb4 21.h4 Bh6 22.Bh3 Qb6 23.Bd7 b3 24.Bc6 Ra2 25.Rxa2 bxa2 26.Qa3 Rb8 27.Qxa2 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 6, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Semi-Slav Defence, D45

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Qc2 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Be2 Be6 9.O-O Nc6 10.Rd1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Rxd4 Bc5 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Bf3 O-O 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Rxd5 Rac8 18.Bd2 Bxe3 19.Bc3 Bb6 20.Qf5 Qe6 21.Qf3 f6 22.h4 Qc6 23.h5 Rfd8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Qxc6 bxc6 26.Re1 Kf7 27.g4 Bd4 28.Rc1 Bxc3 29.Rxc3 Rd4 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 7, Gelfand-Anand, 1–0

Gelfand scored the first win of the match. Commentators considered 23...g5? to be the critical mistake, allowing Gelfand to get a winning position with 24 Qc7 Qxc7 25 Rxc7. Anand sacrificed his bishop for counterplay but it was not enough. In the final position, black can queen his pawn but cannot stop the threat of Ng6+ followed by Rg7 mate.^[34]
Semi-Slav Defence, D45

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.c5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 b6 8.cxb6 Nxb6 9.Bd2 c5 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.exd4 Bd6 12.Bg5 O-O 13.Bd3 h6 14.Bh4 Bb7 15.O-O Qb8 16.Bg3 Rc8 17.Qe2 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Qd6 19.Rc2 Nbd7 20.Rfc1 Rab8 21.Na4 Ne4 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Qc2 g5 24.Qc7 Qxc7 25.Rxc7 f6 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.Nd2 f5 28.Nc4 Nf6 29.Nc5 Nd5 30.Ra7 Nb4 31.Ne5 Nc2 32.Nc6 Rxb2 33.Rc7 Rb1+ 34.Kh2 e3 35.Rxc8+ Kh7 36.Rc7+ Kh8 37.Ne5 e2 38.Nxe6 1–0 Black resigns.

Game 8, Anand-Gelfand, 1–0

Position after 16... Qxh1

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 8: Anand played 17. Qf2!, which trapped Gelfand's queen, resulting in immediate resignation from black.

Anand started the game with the same play as in the third game, but Gelfand early deviated by playing 3 ...c5 instead of 3 ...d5, which was seen in the game 3. The game was followed with 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5. Gelfand tried to provoke g4 by playing 7 ...Nh5, but Anand did not opt for that line. But after few moves the Black bishop occupied the f5 square and let White the opportunity to play 12.g4 with a fork on the Black's bishop and knight. The game continued with 12 ...Re8+ 13.Kd1 Bxb1 14.Rxb1.^[35] Gelfand made a serious error on move 14, overlooking Anand's 17 Qf2, which trapped Gelfand's queen. This idea was also missed by grandmaster commentators Peter Leko and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who preferred Black's position until Anand played 17 Qf2.^[36] Gelfand could have saved his queen by sacrificing his knight with 17...Nc6, but his position was still lost.^[35]
At only 17 moves, this was the shortest decisive game in World Championship history.^[37]
King's Indian Defence, E60

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5 8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1 Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2! 1–0 Black resigns.

Game 9, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Position after 18 ...Qxd6!?

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 9: Anand provoked Gelfand to play 19.c5?!, and subsequently exchange a rook, bishop and a pawn for Black's queen.

For the first time in the match Nimzo-Indian Defence was played. Gelfand obtained a slight edge in the opening by having a position with a bishop pair and hanging central pawns against two knights and a healthy pawn structure on the opposite side. Gelfand chose a concrete line in the middlegame that was criticized by several Grandmasters and exchanged a rook, bishop and pawn for the Anand's queen. However, Anand found a way to make a fortress and defended the game that was drawn after 49 moves as the longest game since the start of the match.^[38]
Black played 15 ...Bxf3, which was evaluated to be a strange and unnecessary move, according to Peter Svidler. In the following moves White got a better position with a bishop pair and a mobile center. But, Black played 18 ...Qd6!? and provoked White to play 19.c5?!. The move was criticised in the press room and moves like 19.a3, proposed by Smirin or 19.h3, proposed by Grischuk and Shipov were probably better. The game entered an endgame with a queen for White and a rook, knight and a pawn for black. White was trying to play on the a7 pawn and to attack on the kingside, but Black appeared to have found the right evaluation in the end. He played the excellent 40 ...Ne4! before the time control, and the game was drawn after move 49.^[38]
Nimzo-Indian Defence, E54

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.Bd3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qc7 15.c4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Rfe8 17.Rfd1 h6 18.Bh4 Qd6 19.c5 bxc5 20.dxc5 Rxc5 21.Bh7+ Kxh7 22.Rxd6 Rxc1+ 23.Rd1 Rec8 24.h3 Ne5 25.Qe2 Ng6 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kh2 Rc7 29.Qb2 Kg7 30.a4 Ne7 31.a5 Nd5 32.a6 Kh7 33.Qd4 f5 34.f4 Rd7 35.Kg3 Kg6 36.Qh8 Nf6 37.Qb8 h5 38.Kh4 Kh6 39.Qb2 Kg6 40.Qc3 Ne4 41.Qc8 Nf6 42.Qb8 Re7 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4 fxg4 45.Qe5 Ng8 46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qxg4 f6 48.Qg2 Kh8 49.Qe4 Kg7 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 10, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½

Sicilian Defence, B30

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 e5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Bb2 d6 8.Nc4 d5 9.Ne3 d4 10.Nc4 Qxe4+ 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 Be6 13.d3 Nf6 14.Nbd2 O-O-O 15.Rhe1 Be7 16.Kf1 Rhe8 17.Ba3 Nd5 18.Ne4 Nb4 19.Re2 Bxc4 20.bxc4 f5 21.Bxb4 cxb4 22.Nd2 Bd6 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Nb3 c5 25.a3 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 11, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Position after 16. ... Rac8

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 11: At this point, Gelfand decided not to take a risk and enter the exchange of queens with 17. Ne5 instead of 17. Nd2 e5! and some complications in the position.

The game started in a Nimzo-Indian Defence as in the game 9. First surprise of the game was at move 8, when Anand played 8 ...Bd7, a developing move with idea to bring the knight on the c6 square in the future. The instigator of this move was David Bronstein, but it was popular and played mostly during the middle of the 20th century.^[39]
At move 17 (see diagram), Gelfand decided not to take a risk by playing 17.Ne5 instead of the more ambitious 17.Nd2 followed with 17 ...e5! and some complications. The position that arrived after the exchange of queens was slightly better for White, but with a huge safety for Black. Both players agreed to a draw after 24 moves were played.^[39]
Nimzo-Indian Defence, E54

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O dxc4 8.Bxc4 Bd7 9.a3 Ba5 10.Qe2 Bc6 11.Rd1 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nbd7 13.Bd3 Qa5 14.c4 cxd4 15.exd4 Qh5 16.Bf4 Rac8 17.Ne5 Qxe2 18.Bxe2 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Rfd8 20.a4 Ne4 21.Rd3 f6 22.Bf4 Be8 23.Rb3 Rxd4 24.Be3 Rd7 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 12, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½

Position after 10. Nd2

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 12: Gelfand spent 40 minutes and sacrificed of two pawns by playing 10. ... c4!, seeking active play.

Sicilian Defence, B30

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.b3 d6 7.e5 Ng6 8.h4 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Nd2 c4 11.Nxc4 Ba6 12.Qf3 Qd5 13.Qxd5 cxd5 14.Nxe5 f6 15.Nf3 e5 16.O-O Kf7 17.c4 Be7 18.Be3 Bb7 19.cxd5 Bxd5 20.Rfc1 a5 21.Bc5 Rhd8 22.Bxe7 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Tiebreak schedule

Anand retained the world title by defeating Gelfand in the rapid round. He was able to put time pressure on Gelfand in all four games. In the second game with white, Anand played his moves so fast that Gelfand was forced to make moves with very few seconds to spare.^[40]

Game 1, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Position after 21. Reb1

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 1: Anand, playing black played 21. ... Bxg3 but 22. Ra3! was a strong reply.^[41]

Queen's Gambit Declined, D10

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.b3 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Re1 Re8 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.g3 Rac8 19.a4 Qf3 20.Be4 Qxb3 21.Reb1 Bxg3 22.Ra3 Qb6 23.Bxd4 Bxh2+ 24.Kxh2 Qd6+ 25.Rg3 Rxe4 26.Bxg7 Kh7 27.Rxb7 Rg8 28.Qxh6+ Qxh6+ 29.Bxh6 Rxg3 30.Kxg3 Bc8 31.Rc7 Kxh6 32.Rxc8 Rxa4 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 2, Anand-Gelfand, 1-0

Position after 71. ... Rf5?

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 2: Anand, playing white, exchanged his knight for Black's bishop by playing 72. Ne6+!, resulting in classical Lucena position, which is won for White.

Sicilian Defence, B30

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. b3 e5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. d4 d6 8. Nxc6 Qxe4+ 9. Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2 Bb7 11. Na5 Bxg2 12. Rg1 Bh3 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Nc3 O-O-O 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. Rg5 Nf6 18. Rxc5+ Kb8 19. Nc4 Re8+ 20. Ne3 Ng4 21. Ncd5 Nxe3 22. Nxe3 Bg4+ 23. f3 Bc8 24. Re1 Rh6 25. Rh1 Rhe6 26. Rc3 f5 27. Kd2 f4 28. Nd5 g5 29. Rd3 Re2+ 30. Kc1 Rf2 31. h4 Ree2 32. Rc3 Bb7 33. Rd1 gxh4 34. Nxf4 Re8 35. Rh1 Rc8 36. Rxc8+ Bxc8 37. Rxh4 Bf5 38. Rh5 Bxc2 39. Rb5+ Ka8 40. Nd5 a6 41. Ra5 Kb7 42. Nb4 Bg6 43. Nxa6 Rxf3 44. Nc5+ Kb6 45. b4 Rf4 46. a3 Rg4 47. Kd2 h5 48. Nd7+ Kb7 49. Ne5 Rg2+ 50. Kc3 Be8 51. Nd3 h4 52. Re5 Bg6 53. Nf4 Rg3+ 54. Kd4 Bc2 55. Rh5 Rxa3 56. Rxh4 Rg3 57. Nd5 Rg5 58. b5 Bf5 59. Rh6 Bg4 60. Rf6 Rf5 61. Rb6+ Ka7 62. Rg6 Bf3 63. Rg7+ Kb8 64. Nc3 Bb7 65. Kc4 Bf3 66. Kb4 Bd5 67. Na4 Rf7 68. Rg5 Bf3 69. Nc5 Kc7 70. Rg6 Kd8 71. Ka5 Rf5 72. Ne6+ Kc8 73. Nd4 Rf8 74. Nxf3 Rxf3 75. Kb6 Rb3 76. Rg8+ Kd7 77. Rb8 1-0 Black resigns.

Game 3, Gelfand-Anand, ½–½

Position after 25. ...Nxe5

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 3: Here, Gelfand played 26. Rxb8, relinquishing most of the advantage he had built over the course of the game, and allowed Anand back to the game. Had he played 26. Nxe4!, he would have had a winning position.

Queen's Gambit Declined, B12

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. O-O Bd6 10. h3 O-O 11. Qc2 Qe7 12. Rd1 Rac8 13. c5 Bb8 14. f4 Ne8 15. b4 g5 16. Rb1 f5 17. b5 gxf4 18. exf4 Nef6 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Ba6 Rc7 21. Be3 Ne4 22. Rb2 g5 23. Rdb1 gxf4 24. Bxf4 e5 25. Bxe5 Nxe5 26. Rxb8 Ng6 27. Nxe4 fxe4 28. Qf2 Qg7 29. Kh2 Rcf7 30. Qg3 Nf4 31. R8b3 Qxg3+ 32. Rxg3+ Kh7 33. Rd1 Ne6 34. Be2 Rf2 35. Bg4 Nf4 36. Rb1 Rf7 37. Rb8 Rxa2 38. Rc8 e3 39. Rxe3 Rxg2+ 40. Kh1 Rd2 41. Rxc6 Ne6 42. Rf3 Rxf3 43. Bxf3 Nxd4 44. Rc7+ Kh6 45. Bxd5 Rc2 46. Be4 Rc3 47. Kg2 Kg5 48. Kh2 Nf3+ 49. Bxf3 Rxf3 50. Rxa7 Rc3 51. Rc7 Kf4 52. Rc8 Ke5 53. c6 Kd6 54. h4 Ra3 55. Kg2 Re3 56. h5 Re5 57. h6 Rh5 58. Rh8 Kxc6 59. Rh7 Kd6 ½–½ A draw by mutual agreement.

Game 4, Anand-Gelfand, ½–½

Final position after 56. Kb2

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 4: Final position of rapid game 4, where both players agreed to draw, which meant Anand won the match.

Sicilian Defence, B50

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 Ngf6 5. e5 Qa5+ 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Bd2 Nxc3 8. Bxd7+ Bxd7 9. Bxc3 Qa6 10. exd6 exd6 11. Qe2+ Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 f6 13. b3 Bb5+ 14. Kd2 Bc6 15. Rad1 Kf7 16. Kc1 Be7 17. d5 Bd7 18. Bb2 b5 19. Nd2 a5 20. Rhe1 Rhe8 21. Re3 f5 22. Rde1 g5 23. c4 b4 24. g3 Bf8 25. Rxe8 Bxe8 26. Nf3 Kg6 27. Re6+ Kh5 28. h3 Bf7 29. Rf6 Bg6 30. Re6 Re8 31. Bf6 g4 32. hxg4+ Kxg4 33. Nh2+ Kh3 34. Nf3 f4 35. gxf4 Kg4 36. Ng5 Ra8 37. Re3 Kf5 38. Bb2 a4 39. Ne6 Bh6 40. Rh3 Bxf4+ 41. Nxf4 Kxf4 42. Bf6 Ra7 43. Re3 Be4 44. Bh4 axb3 45. Bg3+ Kf5 46. axb3 Ra1+ 47. Kd2 Ra2+ 48. Ke1 Ra6 49. f3 Bb1 50. Kd2 h5 51. Kc1 h4 52. Bxh4 Kf4 53. Bg5+ Kxg5 54. Kxb1 Kf4 55. Re6 Kxf3 56. Kb2 ½ – ½ A draw by mutual agreement.