Anand ahead

The calculations were daunting with the chess engines tilting in Anand’s favour and the commentating Grandmasters veering from declarations of a draw to a win for Anand at the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn on Friday, where the third game of the World Chess Championship was played. It was a hub of activity and I was totally on tenterhooks following this high-voltage drama on the stage with Anand’s wife Aruna, who was equally tense.
However, in the end, Anand got his moves right and pocketed the point after 41 moves to take a 2-1 lead in the 12-game Match. It was a brilliant performance by Anand and more than made up for his inability to convert the advantage he had in the second game into a victory.
Kramnik has the reputation of handling and striking with Whites and there was anticipation that there would be some new ideas today.
However, it was Anand’s daring and dashing idea, an entirely home-cooked concoction in Slav Defence that stole the thunder today. Anand uncorked this novelty on the 17th move and the speed with which he belted out the first few moves, 18 to be precise, hinted that the Indian was on his own home turf. Later, when I quizzed him about it, he grinned saying, “The speed must have been a dead give away as to the preparation.”
Kramnik is a positional player who has the ability to squeeze the tiniest advantage into a victory and Anand is a player who thrives on complications and unclear positions where tactics work best.