Anand retains title over Gelfand in tiebreak

May 30, 2012: World Chess champion Viswanathan Anand from India, contemplates his next move during a match against Boris Gelfand of Israel at the FIDE World Chess Championship tie break match at Moscow's Tretyakovsky State Gallery, Russia. (AP)

World chess champion Viswanathan Anand of India has retained his title, beating Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5 in a rapid tiebreaker round of four games.

Tied at 6-6 after 12 regular games, the two played four rapid games with a shortened time limit of 25 minutes per player on Wednesday.

The first game was won by Anand, then they drew the next three.

Hundreds of chess fans watched in a hall at the State Tretyakov Gallery, one of Russia's finest museums.

The winner takes home $1.5 million, while the loser is awarded $1 million.

Anand last successfully defended his title in 2010 against Bulgarian challenger Veselin Topalov.