Moscow: Eleven games gone, Viswanathan Anand is still the favourite to retain the World Chess Championship. But it’s no denying the fact that Boris Gelfand has surely given a good account of himself.

Anand plays with white in the only remaining classical game of the match, and he is an odds-on favourite in the rapid tiebreak matches in case of last game fails to produce a result.

On Saturday, after yet another draw, the packed audience was not disappointed. For the contenders showed fighting spirit throughout the tournament.

In the 11 matches played so far, there was only one blunder, Gelfand’s 14…Qf6 in the eighth game. There have been inaccuracies from both the sides, but the quality of chess has been very high.

Final games of a chess competition are always tense affairs, as the psychological strain of the battle reaches its peak. No wonder before the 11th game, both Anand and Gelfand looked nervous.

Asked about his rival’s strength in rapid games, Gelfand was diplomatic: “Anand’s record says he is the best in all time controls”.

Before the title match against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Anand finished last among six contenders in Bilbao Masters final, not winning a single game. But, just a month later, he crushed Kramnik, leading midway 4.5 – 1.

In 2010, before his World Championship match against Veselin Topalov, he finished on a tie for 4–5 places with 7.5/ 13 at the Corus super tournament at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Again, Anand beat Topalov in the match 6.5 – 5.5, but the decisive win came only in the last round.

Before the ongoing World Championship, Anand played at the Tal Memorial in Moscow and the London Classic. In Moscow, he drew all his nine games to finish at the bottom half of the table. In London, it was same.

It’s for sure, that World Championship takes the focus out of the players from events leading up to it. But strangely, Anand is not showing the decisiveness he showed in 2008 and 2010.