Anand has many fans in the Russian capital

'Viswanathan Anand has many fans in the Russian capital' - Boris Gelfand

July 30, 2011
Boris Khodorovsky, Gazeta.Ru

Moscow and Chennai bid for the right to host the World chess championship title match.

Moscow’s right to host the World chess championship title match in the spring of 2012 is being challenged by Chennai, the birthplace of the reigning world chess champion Viswanathan Anand.

Several more contenders may come forward, says Kirsan Ilyumzhanov, President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Minsk, the home town of the Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand, as well as London, may enter the race. The deadline for entering bids runs out on 31 July, and the winner will be announced the following day.

Under the terms of the tender, the organisers of the match must guarantee a minimum purse of one million euros and transfer a further 200,000 in dues to FIDE.

Moscow was the first to file its bid back in June. “A serious sponsor has indicated an interest in the match between Anand and Gelfand being held in Moscow,” said Ilya Levitov, head of the Russian Chess Federation. Initially, the benefactor’s name was kept secret, but then we are not looking at the secret debut plans of the time of matches between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.

It transpired that the man who is ready to provide $2 million for the world chess title match is Andrei Filatov, co-owner of the N-Trans Group of companies. Having a Candidate Master title himself, he has recently been acting as a chess patron. He paid for the restoration of a monument to Alexander Alekhine in Paris.

The challenger, Boris Gelfand, liked the idea of playing the match in Moscow: “I wouldn’t say that I will be playing in Moscow like I was at home, but I‘ll feel very comfortable in the Russian capital. I’m sure Anand will like it there too. The world champion has many fans in the Russian capital,” Izrus.co.il quotes him as saying.

Moscow has vast experience staging world chess title matches. The first one, between Emanuel Lasker and Wilhelm Steinitz, was held at the turn of 1896 and 1897. In the middle of the 20^th century practically all matches took place in the USSR. Where else were Soviet grandmasters to play? It was not until 1972 when first Bobby Fischer and then the “apostate” Viktor Korchnoi laid their claims that the tradition had to be changed.

The last world championship match Moscow hosted was the open-ended one between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in 1985. The match was stopped by then FIDE President Florencio Campomanes after 48 games failed to determine the winner. Under the rules they played until one or the other won six games, and the score was 5:3 in Karpov’s favour.

The last match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov was played in the latter’s home town Sofia. Bulgarians say it was a lucrative event, but one finds it hard to believe this because chess has lost its erstwhile popularity of late.

Let us face it, there are no giants like Botvinnik, Tal, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov (with all due respect to Gelfand and Anand). The Norwegian Magnus Karlsen, the most commercially attractive chess player, pointedly ignored the knock-out stage. As soon as he announced his decision London refused to bid for hosting the final match.

Ilyumzhinov’s announcement that London is again interested in the chess championship and has found some sponsors looks like a bluff that makes one think of the fictional grandmaster Ostap Bender, for whom the FIDE President has a soft spot. Minsk as a venue is a joke. The challenger’s hometown, where from he emigrated to Israel, barely has enough money to disperse protest demonstrations.

FIDE Presidential Aide Berik Balgimbayev has been stressing ever since the tender was announced that FIDE was expecting bids from Israel and India. Both countries obliged.

Chennai, Anand's home city, has entered its bid. The government of Tamil Nadu state is ready to allocate 200 million rupees (about $4.5 million) to organise the match. “We are sure to get it,” the Indian newspaper Hindu quotes FIDE Vice President D.V. Sundar.

News of the Indian bid coincided with reports of a terrorist attack in another major Indian city, Mumbai. A high terrorist alert was announced in India’s three biggest cities, including Chennai. On the one hand, it boosts Moscow’s chances to host the match, but on the other hand, prize money today matters more than security considerations. In the summer of 1998 the world Russian checkers championship took place at the Severny airport in the Chechen capital Grozny, not the safest place in terms of terrorist threats. The reason was that Shamil Basayev had ordered $45,000 to be paid in prize money. This was after Budyonnovsk and Basayev were already declared the most wanted terrorists, but it was also stressed that he was almost a professional checkers player and was advocating making checkers part of the school curriculum in Chechnya.

We should keep our fingers crossed that Tripoli does not bid to host the Anand-Gelfand match. Chennai can surely handle the match. So can Moscow. It looks as if for Russia today the number of prestigious sporting events it hosts is more important than supplying sick children with medicaments or housing veterans.

Source: http://indrus.in

India nominates Chennai to host the Anand - Gelfand match

India bids for the Anand - Gelfand 2012 match
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State Mme J. Jayalalithaa backing the proposal

As Chessdom already hinted earlier, India nominates Chennai to host the Anand - Gelfand World Championship match. This was announced yesterday afternoon in Chennai by the FIDE President and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State Mme J. Jayalalithaa.

Chennai is planning to invest 200 million rupees (approximately $ 4.5 million) in the match. It should be noted that by now FIDE has already received a bid from the Russian Chess Federation.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov also visited the Russian Cultural Center, where he gave the press conference which aroused great interest among the Indian mass media. It is remarkable that the eight-year-old Viswanathan Anand took his first chess lessons in this Center.

The World Chess Championship 2012 bidding procedure continues until July 31st.

The World Chess Championship 2010 between Anand and Topalov had an increase of interest by at least a full order of magnitude reaching to a large online audience (5 million unique visitors to official site, daily hundreds of articles plus main page appearance on Google news, main page appearance on Wikipedia, etc.), while official media partners covering the match scored fantastic results (ex: Chessdom.com received over 1,5 million unique visitors and 15M page views for the duration of the match). More details on the WCC 2010 media success here.

Chennai (known as Madras till 1996) is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the fourth most populous metropolitan area in India and it is also the world's 41st largest metropolitan area. Chennai is on the southeast coast of India in the northeast of Tamil Nadu on a flat coastal plain. Its average elevation is around 6.7 m and its highest point is 60 m.

The Marina Beach runs for 12 km along the shoreline of the city. Chennai has a tropical climate, specifically a tropical wet and dry climate. The weather is hot and humid for most of the year.

Excited to play at home

Anand excited about playing in front of home crowd
Posted on 13th July 2011

Chennai, July 13 (IANS) Viswanathan Anand is obviously excited at the prospects of playing a World Championship title match in his home town here next year when he faces challenger Boris Gelfand, Grandmaster from Israel who is currently 12 in World rankings.

‘I have been looking to play the match in Chennai. It is nice that Chennai is hosting a World Championship match,’ said Grandmaster Anand Wednesday after Tamil Nadu government offered support for the 12-match series in April-May next year.

‘Obviously, it is an individual’s responsibility and once I start planning and training, I need to be focused to play Boris Gelfand,’ said Anand, who last played a World Championship match here in 1991 when he defeated Alexey Dreev 5-4 in a Candidates tournament quarter-final.

Anand, who beat Vaselin Topalov of Bulgaria in 2010 to claim the World title, said he would soon begin his preparations for the next year’s match.

‘Once the FIDE (World Chess Federation) announces the schedule and timing of matches, I will start planning. As I said, I am really thrilled to be playing in Chennai. I will have to work extremely hard. It is going to be tough,’ he said.

Earlier in the day, FIDE president Kirsan Illyumzhinov along with some Indian chess officials met Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who assured the delegation of Tamil Nadu government support in hosting the event that is estimated to cost Rs 20 Crores.

‘I express my grateful feelings to Madam Chief Minister for her decision to have the match in Chennai. I look forward eagerly to play here. It will be a fantastic experience. It is a very tough match,’ said Anand.

A FIDE press release said: ‘Her Excellency Jayalalithaa responded affirmatively and considered the offer (of hosting the title match) of the World Chess Federation as an excellent opportunity to put Chennai at the centre of world attention. She subsequently instructed her Chief Secretary to finalise the offer to FIDE and the AICF (All-India Chess Federation).

Source: http://www.inewsone.com

Chennai to host World Chess Championship title?

Chennai to host World Chess Championship title
Published: Wednesday, Jul 13, 2011, 14:38 IST
Place: Chennai | Agency: PTI

Holder Viswanathan Anand will clash with Boris Gelfand of Israel for the 2012 World Chess Championship title, which will be held in India for the first time.

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has accepted a proposal to conduct the event either in April or May next year during a meeting with World Chess Federation (FIDE) president Kirsan Illyumzhinov, in Chennai today.

This is the first time that India would be hosting the prestigious tournament, which would be held at a cost of around Rs20 crore, a state government release said.

During the meeting, Illyumzhinov mooted the proposal to conduct the games in Chennai to which the Jayalalithaa agreed, the release added.

India is ranked seventh in the world, and of the 24 grandmasters in the country, 24 are from Tamil Nadu.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com

Preparation and luck

Preparation and luck count, says Boris Gelfand
Chennai, July 11, 2011
By Arvind Aaron

“I haven't heard about any bid from India. The only one that is known to me is the bid from Moscow,” said Boris Gelfand, the twelfth ranked player in the world from Israel who qualified to challenge World champion Viswanathan Anand in April 2012.

“Good preparation, high quality chess and probably luck,” will be the decisive factors according to Gelfand which will decide the match. The World championship challenger spoke to The Hindu in an exclusive interview:

Congratulations on winning the Kazan Candidates and emerging as the Challenger Candidate for Anand in the World Championship. How do you rank your matches against Mamedyarov, Kamsky and Grischuk in terms of difficulty?

Thank you for the warm words. I think the match with Mamedyarov was the easiest one, relatively, of course, as I had half a year to prepare for it. Everything was decided in the third game which I won brilliantly in the sharp way. The match with Kamsky was the most difficult. I was close to be eliminated from the tournament. But luck was on my side, and in the fourth rapid game I managed to win. The final with Grischuk obviously was tough. I defended well and showed my best play in the last game.

You have emerged as the Challenger for the first time. Will your advantage over Anand be ‘more motivation' since he has already won it and you are more eager to become champion?

I think, in the World Championship match both players are highly motivated, so I cannot count on the advantage.

If there was only one bid from India for your match would you like to play in India? You have played many World Championship matches here. Your win against Kramnik and defeat to Karpov at Sanghinagar might still be in memory?

I have very good memories of my Candidate Matches played in Sanghinagar (near Hyderabad) in 94-95 and FIDE World Championship in Delhi in 2000. However, for the moment I haven't heard about any bid from India. The only one that is known to me is the bid from Moscow.

You have played in many places. Which are the top three chess venues?

Belgrade, Monaco and Khanty-Mansiysk

Many chess events are not happening anymore: like Linares, Mainz. How much of a concern is this for elite players like you?

Of course, it is not very pleasant news. But we hope that those tournaments will come back. However, we have new events, such as Bazna, Tal Memorial, Bilbao, Nanjing. So I think that the situation is not bad, especially compared to the previous decade. The chess life in the world is growing. Slowly, but surely.

You are 1968-born and Anand is 1969-born. Will it be more of a relaxed match between two 40+ men. How much different it may have been had you met in the thirties?

I don't believe it could be a relaxed match for the title of the World champion.

Anand's current rating of 2817 is his personal all-time high. Your rating is 15 Elo below your personal best at 2746 now. Do you attach any importance to these numbers?

I don't put a big significance to the numbers. I believe in good and quality chess.

You and Anand are gentlemen at and off the board and also without any controversies. Both are married. So which factor you believe might be decisive for this match?

Good preparation, high quality chess and probably luck.

How long did your celebration run for the Kazan result? Do more people in your former country Belarus celebrate as much as in Israel?

I think that chess public in Belarus is very happy with my success. I don't have much contacts with Belarus, but I'm sure that my fans are following and rooting for me.

With the computers playing at huge strength these days, cheating using electronic devices is also widely reported. Do you believe that metal detectors should be used before players enter the hall like they did during the Kasparov-Kramnik match at London (2000)?

I trust my colleagues, but I do believe that it is better to be on the safe side, so I support anti-cheating measures.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

Going, going, gone for $76,275

ANTIQUES: Rock and Chess Memorabilia from the '60, '70s Heats Up
By ELIZABETH STEWART -- JULY 9, 2011

If you missed this next auction, and you are a chess fan, you will be heartbroken, because you could have bought the chess set used by Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972 at the World Chess Championship in Iceland, signed by both masters. The board and the pieces went for $76,275 at Philip Weiss Auctions in New York in April. There’s nothing special about the wooden board, except for the signatures and the provenance. Just another example why provenance is important and should be noted even in your own collections for future generations.

This chess set is the “back room” board – Fischer had a tantrum when he lost his second match and blamed his loss on the cameras in the main hall. So this, the third match board, was used in a small private room with no cameras. Fischer won, and captured the title. And of course the auction house got a hold of Fischer’s letters to Zita, the love of his life, and auctioned them, too for $9,888.

Source: http://www.thedailysound.com

Which country will step up to the plate?

Who will host the chess match?
July 8, 2011
RIA Novosti

India could become Russia’s main competitor in the fight to host the 2012 World Chess Championship, says Berik Balgabaev, Director of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in Russia.

The Indian chess player Vishwanathan Anand, the current world champion, and Boris Gelfand from Israel, winner of the qualifying tournament, are going to lock horns in a battle for the chess crown. Russia put in an official application to the FIDE to organise a match between Anand and Gelfand on 28 June.

The Board Chairman of the Russian Chess Federation, Ilya Levitov, announced that a sponsor, who wishes to remain anonymous, is willing to donate prize money in the region of $2 million for the Moscow match.

“As far as I know, the Indians are taking the application to host the match very seriously”, says Balgabaev. “It’s possible that some other country will also decide to make a bid to host the competition”.

He added that the applications from countries wishing to host the match “have to be made by the end of July”.

One of the most important criteria for the right to host the contest is the amount of prize money on offer.

Source: http://indrus.in

Chennai 2012?

WCC 2012 in Chennai, India?
Chennai is a possible venue for Anand - Gelfand

As the World Chess Championship 2012 bids deadline approaches, and with Russia bidding strong for the Anand - Gelfand match, the defending World Champion Viswanathan Anand voiced one more time his desire to have the event in India.

"I will be very happy to represent India before a home crowd in Chennai which is bidding to host the World Chess event. Though spectators play no role in cheering up the players but certainly their presence is required," Anand told reporters. "If Chennai hosts the World Chess, it will be a great boost to the sport across the country," he added for the Times Of India.

The bids deadline is July 31st and more interest, including from Boris Gelfand's home country Israel, is expected in the next days.

Happy to play the WC in India

Anand will be happy to play World Chess in India
PTI | 11:07 PM,Jul 07,2011

Nagpur, Jul 7 (PTI) World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand will be more than happy to play for the country in the World Chess Championship being planned in Chennai. "I will be very happy to represent India before a home crowd in Chennai which is bidding to host the World Chess event. Though spectators play no role in cheering up the players but certainly their presence is required," Anand told reporters here. "If Chennai hosts the World Chess, it will be a great boost to the sport across the country," he added. Among the top players in India, Anand felt that P Harikrishna was the most talented of the lot. To a question on cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, a soft spoken Anand, who was here to promote Chess, said there cannot be any comparison between cricket and chess and their respective popularity. Cricket is number one sport in the country and Sachin is doing good, he said. He interacted with students of a local educational institute as part of his campaign to promote Chess.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com

Who will win the World Championship match?
	V. Anand
	B. Gelfand

Game analysis

This game took place about five years ago during one of the most controversial world championships in history.

Kramnik - Topalov [D47]
Game 8
World Chess Championship Match 2006 (8) 05.10.2006

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Be2 A relatively rare line, which used to like and played successfully in many games. In Game 4 of this match Topalov as White played 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3.

8...Bb7 9.0-0 This is one of my own favorite games in this opening! 9.e4 b4 10.e5 bxc3 11.exf6 cxb2 12.fxg7 bxa1Q 13.gxh8Q Qb1 14.0-0 Qf6 15.Qxf6 Nxf6 16.Ne5 Qxa2 17.Bc4 Qa5 18.Qf3 Be7 19.Bg5 Qd8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Bxf6 Qxd4 22.Qh5+ 1-0 Susan Polgar- V. Dimitrov, Bulgaria 1984.

9...b4 9...Be7 was the other main choice here.

10.Na4 Now the main issue is if Black will be able to open up the a8-h1 diagonal with c6-c5, without getting in trouble.

10...c5 My opponents usually chose 10...Be7 or 10...Bd6 here instead of 10...c5.

11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Bb5+ White could have stripped Black from the right of castling with 12.Nxc5 Bxc5 13.Qa4+ Ke7 otherwise (13...Qd7?? 14.Bb5+-; 13...Nd7 14.Rd1 and the pins are devastating for Black.)

12...Ncd7 13.Ne5 Qc7 The best move to clear space for the Rook on d8. Black would get in trouble after 13...Be7 14.Qd4 as the pin over the Knight on d7 is too dangerous.

14.Qd4 The most logical move trying to take advantage of White's advantage in development. 14.Nxd7 Nxd7 or; 14.f4 Rd8 is not dangerous for Black.

14...Rd8 Much better than 14...Bd6 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Rd1+/- Avdeenko - Novikov, Rostov on Don 1980.

15.Bd2 After 15.Rd1 a6 16.Bxd7+ Nxd7 17.Nxd7 Rxd7 18.Qxd7+ Qxd7 19.Rxd7 Kxd7 Black thanks to the pair of Bishops has a slightly better endgame.

15...Qa5 The new move. White was much better in the following game: 15...a6 16.Rfc1 Qa5 17.Bc6 Bxc6 18.Nxc6 Qxa4 19.Nxd8 Kxd8 20.a3 Qb5 21.axb4 Nd5 22.Ra5 Qb6 23.Qc4 Nc7 24.Bc3 f6 25.Bd4 Qb7 26.b5 Nxb5 27.Qxe6 Nxd4 28.exd4 Bb4 29.Rxa6+/- Cvetkovic - Bagirov, Vrnjacka Banja 1974.

16.Bc6 A must. The following sample variation shows the dangers White has to face after other moves: 16.Qd3 a6 17.Bc6 Qxe5 18.Bxb7 Qb5 19.Qxb5 axb5 and White's Knight is trapped!

16...Be7! A fine move. Better than 16...Bxc6 17.Nxc6 Qxa4 18.Nxd8 Kxd8 19.a3 with a dangerous position for Black as the King is shaky on d8.

17.Rfc1 After 17.Bxb7 Nxe5 Black wins a piece.

17...Bxc6 The solid 17...0-0 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.Bxb7 Nc5 20.Qe5 Qxe5 21.Nxe5 Nxb7 22.Be1 would give Kramnik the comfortable small endgame advantage he is looking for.

18.Nxc6 Qxa4 19.Nxd8 More ambitious seemed keeping the Queens on the board with 19.b3 Qb5 20.Nxd8 Bxd8 21.Bxb4 although also here Black is fine after for example 21... 21...Qb6

19...Bxd8 20.Qxb4 With the King being stock on e8, I would feel relieved as Black trading Queens. White could have tried 20.b3 Qa6 21.Bxb4 but again Black is OK after 21...Nd5 or 21...Qb6.

20...Qxb4 21.Bxb4 I felt all through out this endgame that it should be a draw, but I would rather play it as Black. Many GMs disagreed with me online about it. I still don't think that Black is actually better, but I do believe they are not worse at all either.

21...Nd5 A beautiful centralized position for the Knight!

22.Bd6 f5 A dual-purpose move: prevents White's e3-e4 move, which would chase away Black's Knight from d5 and clears the way for Black's King to f7.

23.Rc8 This move looks scarier than it actually is.

23...N5b6 This forces White's Rook to leave.

24.Rc6 Be7 Black offers to trade White's best positioned piece.

25.Rd1 After 25.b4 Bxd6 26.Rxd6 Ke7 27.Rad1 Rc8=/+

25...Kf7 26.Rc7 26.f3 Bxd6 27.Rdxd6 (27.Rcxd6 Ne5) 27...Ne5 28.Rc7+ Kf6 29.Rxa7 Nbc4 30.Rd4 Nxe3=/+; 26.Bxe7 Kxe7 27.Rc7 (27.Rdd6 Nb8 28.Rxe6+ Kf7 29.Rcd6 (29.Rxb6 axb6 30.Rxb6 Nd7=/+) 29...Nc4-/+) 27...Ra8 leads to similar positions as in the game.

26...Ra8 The computer programs suggest to trade Rooks with 26...Rc8 but I think that would favor White.

27.Rb7 I think here Kramnik still thought he is the one playing for a win (just a many commentators during the game) and started "over pushing" just like Topalov did in Game 1.

27...Ke8 Provoking White to trade Bishops. If White does not trade soon, the Rook on b7 can get trapped for example after 28.Kf1 Bxd6 29.Rxd6 Kd8 30.Rxe6? Kc8.

28.Bxe7 Kxe7 29.Rc1 a5 I think White should try to trade Rooks or some Pawns if they can. It is quite amazing that somebody of Kramnik's caliber without any obvious blunder loses this game in about a dozen moves!

30.Rc6 30.Rcc7 Kd6 31.Kf1 a4=/+

30...Nd5 31.h4 31.Kf1 g5 32.Ke2 h5 33.h3 h4=/+

31...h6 31...Nb4 32.Rcc7 does not help Black.

32.a4?! A positional mistake! Better was simply 32.Kf1 g5 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Ke2

32...g5 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Kf1 Another GM suggested sacrificing a Pawn with 34.g4 fxg4 35.Kg2 which maybe better for White, than what we saw happen.

34...g4 35.Ke2 N5f6 The beginning of an interesting Knight maneuver.

36.b3 In hindsight, this is a mistake as soon the Rook on b7 gets almost trapped.

36...Ne8! 37.f3 g3! Now we can see already the shadows of serious danger for White: Black's Rook may get around soon with Ra8-h8-h2 attacking the Pawn on g2 and with the help of the Knights a mating attack may develop. If, 37...Nd6 38.Rbc7 gxf3+ 39.gxf3 Rb8? 40.Ra6 and the table is turned. Now White is better.

38.Rc1 38.b4? Nd6 39.Rbc7 axb4-+

38...Nef6 39.f4 This weakens the e4 square. White hoped to get Black's g3 Pawn, but will lose too much in return.

39...Kd6 40.Kf3 40.b4 axb4 41.Rxb4 Nd5 42.Rbc4 N7b6 43.Rc6+ Ke7 and the a4 Pawn is lost.

40...Nd5 41.Kxg3? This makes things worse for White. 41.Rb5 Ra7! threatening to trap the Rook with Nc7. 42.Rd1 (42.e4 Nc7 43.e5+ Ke7 44.Rxc7 Rxc7 45.Rxa5 Rc3+-+) 42...Nc5 with also good chances for Black. (Instead 42...Ke7 43.Rdxd5 exd5 44.Rxd5 Ke6 45.Rb5 with most likely a draw result. White will be able to reach in worst case a R vs. R+N theoretical draw endgame.)

41...Nc5 The strongest move. Now the two Black Knights dominate the game. 41...Nxe3 was not bad either, but not as good as the game move.

42.Rg7 42.Rb5 Ne4+ 43.Kf3 Rg8 44.Rxa5 Rg3+ 45.Ke2 Rxe3+ 46.Kf1 Rxb3-+

42...Rb8 The rest is matter of technique as they say. 42...Nxe3 was also good.

43.Ra7 Rg8+ 43...Rxb3 44.Rxa5 Rxe3+ 45.Kh4 Nd3-+

44.Kf3 The White King gets in trouble also after 44.Kh2 Nxe3 45.Rg1 Ne4 46.Rh7 Ng4+ 47.Kh3 (47.Kh1 Ng3#) 47...Nef2+ 48.Kh4 Nf6 49.Ra7 Rg4#.

44...Ne4-+ 45.Ra6+ 45.Rxa5 Rg3+ 46.Ke2 Rxe3+ 47.Kd1 Nxf4-+

45...Ke7 46.Rxa5 Rg3+ 47.Ke2 Rxe3+ 48.Kf1 48.Kd1 Nxf4-+

48...Rxb3 48...Nxf4-+

49.Ra7+ 49.Rb5 Ra3 50.a5 Nxf4-+

49...Kf6 50.Ra8 Nxf4 51.Ra1 If, 51.a5 Rb2 52.a6 Ng3+ 53.Ke1 (53.Kg1 Rxg2#) 53...Nxg2+ 54.Kd1 Ne3+ 55.Ke1 Re2#.

51...Rb2 52.a5 Rf2+ White resigned as the checkmate is unavoidable. 53.Kg1 [53.Ke1 Nd3+ 54.Kd1 Nc3#] 53...Rxg2+ 54.Kf1 [54.Kh1 Nf2#] 54...Rf2+ 55.Kg1 [55.Ke1 Nd3+ 56.Kd1 Rd2#] 55...Nh3+ 56.Kh1 Ng3#

Source: http://lubbockonline.com

$2 million bid for Anand vs Gelfand

Russian billionaire sponsors $2m Vishy Anand v Boris Gelfand showdown
Leonard Barden
guardian.co.uk
Friday 1 July 2011 15.30 BST

A Russian billionaire has made a US $2m (£1.25m) bid to sponsor the 2012 Vishy Anand v Boris Gelfand world title series. Andrei Filatov, who made his fortune from transport infrastructure, wants to hold the 12-game match in Moscow. He is a chess fan and in his youth studied at the Belarus Sports Academy, where he befriended Gelfand, now an Israeli.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk

World Championship in Moscow?

World Chess Championship 2012 in Moscow?
Moscow sent a bid for the Anand - Gelfand 2012 match (updated)

As Chessdom informed a few weeks ago, there are no official bids, but there is certainly interest in organizing the World Chess Championship 2012 after the large media success of the 2010 edition of the event. The match Anand - Gelfand is rumored to be wanted by India and several other countries, but the first one to make a move is Russia.

Moscow will send a bid for the World Chess Championship match 2012 between Anand and Gelfand. This news came via the Russian Chess Federation, cited by Moskovski Novosti, and the rumor quickly spred through the local media. The last world championships organized in Moscow were the 1985 match between Kasparov and Karpov, and the 2002 knockout World Championship won by Ponomariov.

The information about Moscow has been confirmed by Ilya Levitov according to the Russian media. Berik Balgabaev countered, "Yes, indeed there is interest from Moscow, but who has submitted a bid I will tell when I have the right to. For now I can only say that the information did not come initially from us and I cannot confirm it, but let me note that there is high interest from India and Israel also."

The deadline for the Anand - Gelfand bids is 31 July 2011, and the full details on the bidding procedure are here

Update: Ilya Levitov confirmed that the bid to host the World Chess Championship 2012 in Moscow has been sent to FIDE. The offer is 2 million USD worth, matching the prize fund provided by the Bulgarian government for the match Anand-Topalov.

The newspaper "Kommersant" notes that the bid comes shortly after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed the government and Russian Olympic Committee to continue on bringing the biggest sports event to the country. A small reminder that the 2014 Winter Olympic Games will be held in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup will also take place in Russia.

According to Kommersant columnist Alexey Dospehov, the challenger Boris Gelfand welcomed the bid and added that Moscow "is probably the best option." On the question about possible bids from Israel, Gelfand said that there has been some interest but without concrete steps.

Several sources revealed that Andrey Filatov, co-owner of the "N-Trance" company and a devoted chess fan, is actually sponsoring the bid. Filatov is known for financing the restoration of Alexander Alekhine's monument in Paris.