The 41-year old "Tiger of Madras" has been once again able to unsheathe his claws and grab his 5th World Title. After an epic struggle, that led the two contestants to a 6.0/6.0 tie after 12 games, Anand went on to retain his title by winning the tiebreak rapid games. The regular games have been characterized by a show of deep home preparation by Anand and Gelfand, that has somehow paralyzed the play, with the reigning champion and the challenger trying to explore new paths only when the games were clearly equal. In game 7, though, a heart quake happened: Gelfand finally found the "way", and outplayed the Champion in a semi-Slav, only to give back the full point in game 8, after a terrible blunder that allowed Anand to trap Boris' Queen! The fans were delighted: eventually some fire on board! Fireworks over, the calm after the storm: Anand and Gelfand got back to their amazing preparation, and drew the next 4 games, to get into the tiebreaks. Four games, 25 minutes plus 10 second increment, to decide the World Chess Championship 2012. Anand won the second game, leading 2.0-1.0 going into the fourth, decisive game. Gelfand, in a must-win situation, tried hard to press home the advantage, but Anand defended well and moved on to draw the game and win his fifth World Championship title. GM Alex Yermolinsky provided his witty analysis and comments during the whole match, with his unmistakable style, in ICC's Game Of the Day videos. We had our team of great commentators bring ICC members daily coverage on the air, the TRIVIA contests to win membership extensions, and the GOTD TRIVIA where every day a lucky ICC member won a one-year subscription to the best chess magazine out there: New in Chess!
Now, who will be the next challenger? The FIDE Candidates Tournament has been moved on to March 2013, and presents an impressive line-up. Boris Gelfand - as the loser of the Championship Match 2012 -  according with FIDE regulations, is the #1 seed, and will be joined by the top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2011 - Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and Vassily Ivanchuk;  the next three highest rated players in the world - average from July 2011 and January 2012 FIDE rating list  - Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik; and Teimour Radjabov (wild card). It will be a great event to follow!

And now, with the World Championship Match over, are we going to miss action? Of course not! The 7th Tal Memorial is only a week away.  This year the super-tournament - held in Moscow from June the 7th to June the 19th - presents an amazingly strong line-up: Carlsen, Aronian, Kramnik, Radjabov, Nakamura, Caruana, Morozevich, Grischuk, Tomashevsky and McShane. According to the unofficial rating list, this makes the average rating an unbelievable 2777! ICC Chess.FM will be on the air with its "dream team" to comment live on the games. We will have the traditional TRIVIA contests and the New in Chess TRIVIA, where every day a lucky ICC member can win a one-year subscription to the great magazine New in Chess.

Is that all? No, it's not! From June the 23rd to July the 4th another great event will take place in Romania. World Champion Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Vassily Ivanchuk and Liviu D. Nisipeanu are going to lighten up our Summer at the 6th Kings Tournament.

It is going to be a GREAT Summer to share with all your fellow chess fans in ICC!

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GM Alex Yermolinsky, with his interesting and appealing style, drives us through the Rapid games that have decided the 2012 World Chess Championship. After 12 regular games, GM Anand and GM Gelfand tied 6.0/6.0, and they had to go on to play four rapid games - 25 minutes plus 10 second increment. In an epic struggle, after an initial drawn game, Anand managed to win the second game, and to draw 3rd and 4th, to retain his title, and become a 5-time Chess World Champion!

2012 is the year of the great ICC giveaway, with FREE ICC apps for download! Everyone will be looking to play at the best online chess club with new holiday gifts of iPhones, iPads and Android phones. And here at ICC, such was the large response to our original free holiday offer we're extending it by making ALL of our mobile apps free for the time being.

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