Game eight of the 2012 World Chess Championship saw another decisive result, as champion Viswanathan Anand defeated challenger Boris Gelfand to pull even in the match. The score now stands at 4-4.

Did I mention that Anand beat Gelfand in just seventeen moves? Seventeen moves. Holy mazooma! I’d have thought that news a hoax if I’d not seen it on the official FIDE web site.

Here is the game, replayable in your browser using the arrow buttons below the board. The gamescore includes Houdini 2 Pro’s analysis generated automatically in the Chess King Pro interface:

Anand, Viswanathan (2799) – Gelfand, Boris (2739)

Result: 1-0

Site: Moscow

Date: 2012.05.21

[…] 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 ¥g7 6.¤e2 O-O 7.¤ec3 +0.007…¤h5 +0.00 N

(7…¤fd7 8.¥g5 ¤a6 9.¥e2 ¥d4 10.£d2 ¦e8 11.¤a3 ¤c7 12.h4 …1-0, Serov Maksim 2378 – Krylov Andrei 2105 , St. Petersburg 5/14/2008 Ch Chigorin Chess Club)

(7…¤a6 8.¥e2 ¤c7 9.¥e3 a6 10.a4 ¦b8 11.O-O ¥d7 12.¤a3 …0-1, Laznicka Viktor 2610 – Polzin Rainer 2504 , Germany 3/17/2007 Bundesliga 2006/07)

(7…e6 8.¥e3 exd5 9.cxd5 ¤a6 10.£d2 ¤c7 11.a4 ¤h5 12.g4 …1-0, Sipahioglu Irmak 2092 – Soylu Suat 2416 , Datca 8/21/2011 Ch Turkey (active))

(7…e5 8.¥g5 h6 9.¥h4 £b6 10.£d2 ¤h5 11.¤a3 a6 12.¥e2 …0-1, Smugalev – Petrushin Alexander I 2456 , Taganrog 8/ 4/2009 Memorial V.Dvorkovich (open))

(7…¥d7 8.¥g5 ¤a6 9.¥e2 ¤c7 10.a4 ¤a6 11.O-O £a5 12.f4 …1/2-1/2, Maros Milan 2264 – Szocs Ladislav 2031 , Kaskady 2002 Ch Slovakia (open) (b))

(7…a6 8.a4 e6 9.¥g5 h6 10.¥e3 exd5 11.cxd5 ¤bd7 12.¥e2 …1-0, Meessen Rudolf 2320 – Pytel Krzysztof 2351 , Eupen 8/23/2010 It (cat.5))

8.¥g5 -0.108…¥f6 +0.13

(8…h6 -0.11 9.¥e3 -0.11 9…g5 -0.11 10.g3 -0.07 10…£a5 +0.00)

(8…¤a6 +0.00 9.£d2 +0.04 9…¦e8 +0.11 10.¥e2 +0.11)

9.¥xf6 +0.139…exf6 +0.1310.£d2 +0.0610…f5 +0.0611.exf5 +0.0611…¥xf5 +0.0612.g4 +0.0612…¦e8+ +0.3013.¢d1 +0.2413…¥xb1 +0.2314.¦xb1 +0.2314…£f6 +1.89

(14…¤f6 +0.22 15.¢c2 +0.29 15…¤a6 +0.26 16.a3 +0.41 16…¤b8 +0.48 17.h4 +0.48 17…¤bd7 +0.56)

(14…¤g7 +0.29 15.¢c2 +0.33 15…¤d7 +0.26 16.¥e2 +0.29)

15.gxh5 +1.6915…£xf3+ +1.6916.¢c2 +1.5716…£xh1 +1.5117.£f2 …

(17…¤c6 18.dxc6 £xc6 19.¥d3 ¦e5 20.¦f1 £c7 21.¤d5 ¦xd5 22.cxd5 c4 23.¥e2 ¦e8 24.¢d1 c3 25.hxg6 hxg6 26.bxc3 ¦e5 27.¥d3 £e7 28.c4 b5 29.cxb5 ¦xd5 30.£f3 ¦d4 31.¢c2 ¢g7 32.a3 £e6 33.£e2 £d5 34.£d2 f5 35.¦e1 £b7 36.¦e8 (0:06:03) 17.Qf2)

Here’s the unnannotated score, suitable for “copy and paste” purposes:
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

Have fun! — Steve Lopez

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