WORLD CHAMPION FOUND SHELTER IN A FORTRESS
The ninth game of the match for FIDE World Champion was played on 23 May at the State Tretyakov Gallery’s Engineering Building
In the ninth game, Viswanathan Anand decided against the Slav Defence and played the Nimzo-Indian Defence with black. In response, Boris Gelfand selected the solid Rubinstein System. Following the opening, White acquired moveable pawns in the centre and an advantage of two bishops; at the same time the Black positions had no weaknesses. Soon the challenger had an opportunity to deal a blow to the centre with a move of 19.с5. As a result of this tactical operation, White won a queen for a rook, bishop and pawn. Experts believed that a draw was the most likely outcome, but White nevertheless still had a small chance for victory. Gelfand tried long and hard to undermine the black defence, although he may not have acted as accurately as he should have. White managed to open the kingside, however Anand successfully restructured his forces and with his concise play fought off all threats from his opponent after building a fortress. The opponents agreed to a draw on the forty-ninth move.
After the ninth game, the score is 4.5-4.5. The tenth game will be played today, 24 May. Viswanathan Anand will play with white.
A press conference was held on 23 May to mark the eightieth anniversary of the birth of artist Viktor Popkov, a brilliant master of the Soviet school of art. Popkov’s painting The Team is Resting became the artistic symbol of the 2012 World Chess Championship Match. The press conference was attended by Pyotr Kozorezenko, a doctor of art studies and the author of a book about Popkov, as well as Russian Art magazine editor Inna Pulikova.
Also on this day, the match was attended by Natan Sharansky, a well-known Israeli politician, social activist and writer. Sharansky gave interviews to several television channels and also played an unplanned simultaneous chess display with children in the Chess Corner.
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