Darkness before draw in Game 5; Anand leads

For almost 15 minutes, the stage at the central Military centre, the venue of the ongoing World Chess Championship, Sofia, Bulgaria was plunged in darkness due to a power failure which had affected the central parts of the city

For almost 15 minutes, the stage at the central Military centre, the venue of the ongoing World Chess Championship, Sofia, Bulgaria was plunged in darkness due to a power failure which had affected the central parts of the city.u00a0


Topalov and Anand in action during game 5 yesterday. PIC/AFP

However, both, reigning champion Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov, continued to gaze at the board in darkness, even as the arbiter stopped their clocks and readjusted them again, giving each an increment of two minutes.

This was enough for the netizens to go into overdrive with speculations and rumours flying around.
The blackout was the only eventful happening as things were quite uneventful on the chessboard and the draw which loomed large for a long time was finally executed by repetition of moves on the 44th turn.u00a0 Anand maintains 3-2 lead with seven games remaining.

"Iu00a0 took some extra time after the electricity supply was resumedu00a0 just to make sure of my next moves and then executed it," said the Indian.

Topalov stuck to the queen pawn opening and Anand to the Slav with which he had drawn the third game.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!