Anand defeats Gelfand in Game 8 to level scores

Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand's title defence got back on track as the 42-year-old defeated Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand to level the scores 4-4 in the eighth game of the on-going World Chess Championship here yesterday.

Fired up: Indian chess Grandmasteru00a0V Anand. Pic/AFP

After six draws, a defeat and criticism from chess legend Gary Kasparov, questioning his motivation, Anand desperately needed this win. And he got it in some style, winning in just 17 moves making it the shortest match in the recent world championship history.u00a0"I don't think I played particularly aggressive today, the moves I played are typical of the position we had on board," Anand was quoted by PTI.u00a0

Game 8 was shaping up exactly like Game 3, the only game where Gelfand was on the verge of defeat. Gelfand survived that game but could not deny Anand victory yesterday. u00a0Gelfand, who was playing black, resigned after his queen got trapped. "The game turned out to be a strategic one. Black had trouble developing his light-squared bishop throughout the game and my entire strategy was built on this.u00a0

"I exchanged the dark-squared bishops, the rooks and the queens; my knights gained a dominating position and, as a result, Black's bishop was lost without ever entering the game," Gelfand said at a press conference after the game. u00a0Anand couldn't agree with his opponent more: "In a bad position all moves are bad." Anand and Gelfand are scheduled to face-off in Game 9 on Wednesday.u00a0