Having won the crown in a 2007 tournament, Anand faced the man he had displaced — Kramnik — in a proper match to silence any doubt. He won twice as Black in the same razor-sharp Semi-Slav, took a commanding lead, and closed it out in eleven games.
Legitimacy on the line
Anand had taken the reunified title by winning the 2007 Mexico City tournament — the first time since 1948 that the championship was decided by a tournament rather than a match. Kramnik, the man he had overtaken, was granted the right to challenge in a one-off match.
For Anand it was a chance to prove his crown in the traditional way, head to head, against a former champion widely regarded as one of the hardest players in the world to beat.
The Semi-Slav strikes twice
Anand won games three and five with Black in the same sharp line of the Semi-Slav, then won a third game with White in a Nimzo-Indian for a 4½–1½ lead that effectively decided the match. Kramnik hit back in game ten, when Anand needed only a draw, but the champion drew the eleventh to finish it.
The final score was 6½–4½; the twelfth game wasn't needed. The win made Anand the undisputed classical champion, and he went on to defend the title against Topalov and Gelfand.
Cross table
1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.