Vale Vishy

Viswanathan Anand, the 15th world champion, suffered a complete meltdown in his title defence against Magnus Carlsen towards the end of last year. Anand was an impressive match player, defending the title successfully against challenges from Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand. He was also world champion for around six years. In his latter period as champion, though, his tournament results were largely unconvincing. How does Anand figure in the pantheon of champions?
 
I would say that as champion he is more or less on a par with Capablanca, Petrosian and Kramnik. His record as champion was superior to that of Euwe, Tal, Smyslov and Spassky and way ahead of Bobby Fischer, who played no games at all as champion and even defaulted in what was meant to be his first title defence. Anand’s record does not, however, match up to the great champions, who are: Steinitz, Lasker, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Karpov and of course, Kasparov. Kasparov’s combination of match successes and consistent tournament victories marks him out as the greatest champion of all time.
 
This week I bid farewell to Anand’s reign as champion with his best win from his 2010 match victory against Topalov.
 
Anand-Topalov: World Championship, Sofia Bulgaria 2010; Catalan Opening
 
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 g3 The game which unfolds soon converts into a sharp tactical battle. The normal expectation is that such conflagrations arise in sharp systems such as the Sicilian Defence. Anand proves here that even fianchetto openings can lead an intense tactical struggle. 4 … dxc4 5 Bg2 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 a5 7 Qc2 Bxd2+ 8 Qxd2 c6 9 a4 b5 10 Na3 Bd7 11 Ne5 Nd5 12 e4 Nb4 13 0-0 0-0 14 Rfd1 Be8 15 d5 A powerful gambit, indicative of a fighting spirit which was in general absent in Anand’s match against Carlsen.