NEW DELHI: It may not match the ecstasy of retaining the World Championship title but Indian chess wizard Viswanathan Anand is both delighted and relieved to have snapped a black jinx against his Bulgarian nemesis Veselin Topalov.
Both levelled at 5.5 after 11 rounds, Anand weaved a black magic in the decider, conjuring a stunning win over the local favourite to retain the world title in Sofia, Bulgaria.
It came as a fitting reply to Topalov's pre-match bragging that he would have the edge against the Indian because of his white pieces.
"I think I have lost my four or five games against Topalov with black but with white I won my last three. So it was very important to win this with black," a content Anand said.
"May be it is fitting in a way that finally I corrected this problem that I have been having with the black pieces," he said.
"In general, for the last four years we have been beating each other with white, so it was getting a bit one-sided," Anand said.
Graceful as usual, Anand lauded his opponent Topalov for showed great determination and fighting spirit to take the 12-game encounter down to the wire.
"He is one of the strongest players in the world. I think he is one of the grittiest and I feel a decade older after this match," Anand said.
Anand has triggered off a chess revolution in the country and asked how much effect his latest triumph would have on the mind of the Indian chess players, the champion chess player said, "Right now I can't think of any sort of legacy. I am just relieved that I am still gonna wake up tomorrow as world champion."
Both levelled at 5.5 after 11 rounds, Anand weaved a black magic in the decider, conjuring a stunning win over the local favourite to retain the world title in Sofia, Bulgaria.
It came as a fitting reply to Topalov's pre-match bragging that he would have the edge against the Indian because of his white pieces.
"I think I have lost my four or five games against Topalov with black but with white I won my last three. So it was very important to win this with black," a content Anand said.
"May be it is fitting in a way that finally I corrected this problem that I have been having with the black pieces," he said.
"In general, for the last four years we have been beating each other with white, so it was getting a bit one-sided," Anand said.
Graceful as usual, Anand lauded his opponent Topalov for showed great determination and fighting spirit to take the 12-game encounter down to the wire.
"He is one of the strongest players in the world. I think he is one of the grittiest and I feel a decade older after this match," Anand said.
Anand has triggered off a chess revolution in the country and asked how much effect his latest triumph would have on the mind of the Indian chess players, the champion chess player said, "Right now I can't think of any sort of legacy. I am just relieved that I am still gonna wake up tomorrow as world champion."
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