Anand Retains World Crown

It can only be described as "a moment of madness," as challenger Veselin Topalov all but pressed the self-destruct button in the final game 12 in Sofia against Vishy Anand that allowed the champion to retain his title.

Topalov seemed to lose his nerve and with it the game and any aspirations he had for the title following the calamitous 32 fxe4??  It didn't take long for Anand to hone in on the severe weakness of his opponent's king to score  a memorable title-winning victory by a score of 6.5-5.5.  Check the expert analysis below from GM Miguel Illescas in GOTD.

The Indian ace first won the world title in a tournament in 2007, and now has successfully defended it twice in match-play.  Apart from the prestige of the title, Anand takes away a cash prize of $1.5 million with Topalov $1 million.

Congratulations Vishy!  Of course, after successfully defending his title, the question now is: who will be Anand's next challenger? Carlsen, perhaps?