At the highest level of chess, the colours get blurred — whites and blacks are not as important as the player’s creativity, courage or calculation. Players of Vishy Anand and Veselin Topalov’s calibre don’t need only white pieces to record a win. “A win from black pieces is possible,” says Nigel Short, a former championship challenger.
The results at the World Championship tell a different story. All four wins — two each for Anand and Topalov — have come from white pieces so far. That’s not a great piece of statistic for Anand, who will start behind black in the final game in Sofia on Tuesday.
That’s not all. Topalov is a great finisher. “He has won tournaments winning the final games,” says RB Ramesh, a highly rated Indian Grandmaster. One of Topalov’s last-round wins was over Gary Kasparov in Linares in 2005. It was the Russian’s final game before his retirement and Kasparov had to share the title with Topalov. The Bulgarian has made immense progress since. He is currently the world’s No.1 player.
But Anand is not a defending champion by chance and analysts believe he will have prepared a few lines for this kind of last game scenario. “I expect them to come prepared for any eventuality in the last game,” Ramesh, who once worked with the Indian maestro, says. “It should not be a problem for him to force a draw.” A draw will lead to a four-game tie-breaker in rapid chess. That, of course, is a different story.
Analysts believe Anand will have to surprise Topalov rather than be surprised by his challenger in his choice of opening. In the 10th game, Anand came up with 1.c4 which transformed into English opening. From the black side, Anand has been opting for Slav or Grunfeld in Sofia. Ramesh thinks Anand may go for a new variation like Queen’s Gambit rather than the treaded lines.
Nimzo Indian is another option but Topalov had twice beaten Anand in this opening.
Openings apart, nerves are the other important factor. Anand has shown strong mental strength so far, bouncing back after the first-game loss. His fans and whole of India will expect him to be stronger on Tuesday.
