Sofia (Bulgaria) May 11: World Champion Viswanathan Anand retained his crown winning the World Chess Championship title beating Veselin Topalov of Russia here today.
The thrilling victory came in the 12th and final game which had 57 moves with black pieces.
Anand won the match 6.5-5.5 following up his world title wins in 2000, 2007 and 2008.
The 40-year-old chess king, had to travel more than 40 hours by road to reach the venue as flights in Europe were suspended due to the volcanic ash from Iceland. Though he lost the first game, he quickly came back into the game winning the second and third games.
There was speculation whether Anand would be able to make it to the venue as the volcanic ash was playing havoc European flights. Though Anand appealed to postpone the tie, there were no signs of appreciating his predicament.
Finally, volcanic ash or no ash, Anand proved that he retains his touch and is still the undisputed king of chess.
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