Moscow, May 30
Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand showed immense resilience to beat challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel in a tense, rapid chess tie-breaker to win the World Championship crown for the fifth time and fourth in a row here today. Anand won the second game and drew the other three to win the title at the State Tretyakov Gallery here. Luck played a major part in the final game, favouring the Indian when it mattered most.

After a 6-6 deadlock in the 12 classical games, the rapid finale ended 2.5-1.5 in Anand's favour, making him the world chess champion five times in all and four times in a row since 2007. The victory also meant that the 'King of Chess' will keep the crown till 2014, when the next World Championship will be held.

The high tension and drama in the Tretyakov Gallery.almost made the Moscow weather look like the Indian summer. Heated discussions on the chess board, tipsy-turvy games and above all the intensity of the battle made everyone forget that the champion and the challenger had been playing 12 classical games over the past three weeks.

The hallmark of Anand’s success was his speed. Often, Gelfand was seen down to his last few seconds when Anand still had a few minutes left on his clock. Gelfand played white in Game 1 and got nothing out of the opening. In fact, an inaccuracy by the Israeli gave Anand a huge advantage as the game progressed out of a Semi-Slav defence, but it was Anand’s chance to go wrong if the battle had to unfold the way it did.