World Chess Championship 2010
Anand defends the title in Sofia — defeats Topalov in the final game of a match held in the challenger's home country.
- Year
- 2010
- Format
- Best of 12 classical games
- Venue
- Central Military Club
- Prize fund
- €2,000,000
- Cycle
- unified
The 2010 match was held in Sofia, Bulgaria — Veselin Topalov’s home country. Anand had to travel from India by road via Frankfurt because of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic-ash air closure, arriving with two days to spare. The match took place at the Central Military Club from 24 April to 12 May 2010.
The Match
Played to 12 games. Topalov won Game 1 in 30 moves and led 1–0 going into Game 2, where Anand levelled in a sharp Catalan. The match was tied at 5.5–5.5 going into Game 12, where Anand won as Black in a Lasker Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined — Topalov made a positional misjudgement on move 32 and could not recover. Final score 6.5–5.5.
The Third Defence
Anand’s third successful defence (after 2008 vs Kramnik and his 2007 Mexico City tournament victory) consolidated his place among the most successful unified-cycle champions. He would defend once more, against Gelfand in 2012, before losing to Carlsen in Chennai 2013.