During the eleventh game of the match, just as in the ninth, Viswanathan Anand once again selected the Nimzo-Indian Defence for Black. Even during the early stages, the world champion surprised his opponent with the rare move of 8…Сd7, forcing the contender to think long and hard about his next move. The opponents traded queens rather quickly and moved on to the multi-piece endgame.
Once again Boris Gelfand held the advantage of two bishops, however his so-called “hanging pawns” in the centre came under fire from enemy rooks. On the twentieth move, the Indian grandmaster launched tactical operations in the centre, preventing his opponent from stabilising the situation and strengthening his advantage. Running out of time to think, Gelfand decided to simplify things after which their positions were completely equalised. On the twenty-fourth move, the opponents agreed to a draw.
Following the eleventh game, the score is even at 5.5-5.5. Sunday, 27 May, is an off-day at the match. The twelfth and final game with classical time control will be held on Monday, 28 May. Viswanathan Anand will play with white. If the score is still even after this game, the world champion will be determined by a tie break (in games with accelerated time control) on Wednesday, 30 May.
The guests of honour on 26 May were the famous Russian musicians, pianist Nikolai Lugansky and cellist Alexander Knyazev.
Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik delivered a lecture to children and parents and also took numerous questions from the young audience.
Gelfand will win with black. Then he’ll lose his crown to Nakamura.
And Nakamura will once again lose to Magnus Carlsen.