The title match between Vishy Anand and Veselin Topalov is over. Anand has defended the World Champion Title and secured his place in history as one of the best chess players of all time. Dylan Loeb McClain at the Gambit Blog explains:
The victory by Anand cements his legacy. For most of his career, he was overshadowed by Garry Kasparov, the former champion, even losing a title match to him in 1995. But after Kasparov retired in 2005, Anand, Topalov and Kramnik vied to establish themselves as the dominant player. Even after Anand won the tournament in Mexico City, some chess purists argued that he was not a legitimate champion because he had not won the title in a match, as had his predecessors. Beating Kramnik and Topalov in matches should silence the critics.
Indeed. Anand is a smooth operator. Unlike many of the more psychotic players, like the legend Bobby Fischer, Anand is an easy-going individual who overcame the distraction of having to be driven to Sofia (a 40-hour trip) due to the Iceland volcano grounding flights. This delayed the match, the kind of distraction that would shatter most players. Not Anand.
Jim-Rose.com 