WCC2012-5: Drawish Sveshnikov?

Viswanthan Anand may have sensed the mood of the match and the environment and essayed his former life in 1.e4. Boris Gelfand countered with 1…c5 entered the combative Sveshnikov variation. This meant that this game would be a knock-down, drag-out fight with many imbalances and dynamic play. It was not to be.

The game turned out to be a “damp squib” and quickly petered out into a theoretical draw. There was really no point in time when the game was on a razor’s edge. It was typical ideas seen in this line.

The Sveshnikov (also known as the Lasker-Pelikan) was one of the sharpest theoretical lines of the 80s. It made a resurgence 20 years later and is still a formidable weapon at high levels. However, today it lacked the character associated with it.

Watch the commentary by GM Daniel King!

Official Site: https://moscow2012.fide.com/en/
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2012/05/10/2012-world-championship-anand-vs-gelfand/