Anand suffers shock setback in chess title fight

Israel’s Boris Gelfand broke through Sunday against title-holder Viswanathan Anand in their World Chess Championship series by winning the first game after six successive draws.

The tortuous match of nearly four hours marked the Indian master’s first defeat to Gelfand in a classic chess match since 1993.

“This is definitely a big blow,” Hungary’s 2004 world title contender Peter Leko said in a television commentary.

Gelfand, who was playing white Sunday, now leads the 12-match series 4-3 under a scoring system that awards the winner one point and the loser none. Draws see players share a half point each.