Viswanathan Anand retained his World Chess Championship title on Wednesday by winning a tense four-game tie-breaker against Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand.
It was a fifth world title for the Indian grandmaster, who took the championship under various formats in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
Anand won Wednesday's quick-fire round of four speed chess matches with one win and three ties, after the initial 12-match series was drawn with five ties and one win each.
Anand's crucial victory came in the second game of the four, when the Indian, playing as white, sealed the triumph on move 72.
Gelfand was in time trouble after the 57th move, having 18 seconds left compared with four minutes of his opponent, who is considered a genius of rapid chess.
Playing as white, Gelfand had Anand on the ropes in the following third game but the Indian went on the defensive to hold off the charge.
Anand takes home the $1.5 million prize and a chess crown sculpture from the venue, Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery, with Gelfand earning $1 million as runner-up.
Anand, 42, has held the undisputed title since October 2008, when he defeated Russia's Vladimir Kramnik in Bonn, Germany. He defended it in 2010 by beating Bulgarian opponent Veselin Topalov 6.5–5.5 in Sofia.
Gelfand, 43, gained the right to become the world title contender after a win last May against Russia's Alexander Grischuk at a contenders' tournament in Kazan, Russia.
Russian billionaire and Gelfand’s school friend Andrey Filatov paid $7 million from his own pocket to hold the event in one of the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery before the eyes of some 400 spectators.
