India's Anand defends chess world championship title against Bulgarian challenger Topalov
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Viswanathan Anand, a chess grandmaster from India, has retained the world championship title after a match with Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov.
The match, consisting of a dozen games, was played in the Bulgarian capital Sofia over the last twenty days. Anand received the first-place prize of 1.2 million euro, whilst Topalov took 800,000 euro. The awards ceremony was attended yesterday by the Bulgarian prime minister, Boyko Borisov, and the international chess federation FIDE's president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Going into the last game, both sides had two wins apiece, and seven draws. However, the Bulgarian's manager, Silvio Danailov, told the Dnevnik that Topalov played the last game "rather nervously", saying: "A draw would have been a good result for him but he made a few mistakes and the Indian exploited them.
"We should concentrate on the positive sides of the match. This was a historic match for Bulgaria. The country was in the spotlight for millions of people worldwide who love the game. We should be happy and proud that we organised this event."
Sources
- "Anand defends crown against Topalov in World Chess Championship 2010" — The Echo, May 12, 2010
- "India's Anand Crowned World Chess Champion in Bulgaria" — novinite.com, May 13, 2010