Click to play videoBonn: Viswanathan Anand beat his Russian opponent Vladimir Kramnik in the World Chess Championship in Bonn on Wednesday to retain his world title.
Anand retained the title after ending the 11th game with Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in a draw to reach 6.5 points against the Russian's 4.5.
Chess is often described as mental boxing as two people slug it out, toe to toe, trying to beat each other up psychologically and Anand retained the World Championship title against an opponent, who is not known to be forgiving and the Indian will cherish the win all his life.
He retained his World Championship title with a game to spare. It's a performance that will further increase his lead at the top, over his opponents on the FIDE rankings.
"Beating Kramnik in a match is definitely a phenomenal result because his match style is lethal. It's almost impossible to get a win against him. I managed three. Even (former champion Gary) Kasparov didn't manage a single win," Anand said after his title win.
But it wasn't easy for Anand in the tournament. After drawing the first two games, Anand achieved his first win in the third game, and later drew the fourth.
He then played some aggressive chess in the fifth and the sixth games to manage wins. He then, managed three draws in the next three games, before losing the 10th and drawing the 11th to win the Championship.
Anand is now the world champion for the third time but it the first time that he has actually defended the title and his fans would now want him to move from a position of champion to a period as reigning champion.
But what would satisfy Anand the most is that the win has ended all speculation over his ability at the highest level.
He has now won the title in three different formats. If the divide in the Chess World in 2000 robbed him of the acclaim he deserved after winning the title, it was the unsatisfactory format in 2007 that left people doubting his ability.
"Right now the only thing I can think of is to celebrate. Kick back and just have a quite evening with my seconds. My team worked very hard and generally it is as nerve racking as it was for me," the world champion said.
With Anand having won the World Blitz and World Rapid titles also in the past, besides World Classical title in three different formats, he can finally be called the ultimate "Universal" World Champion.
Anand did not make a wrong move after the first few games. On the other hand there is a pall of gloom in the Russian camp. One journalist saying covering the tournament said it was like covering a funeral.
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