user10737: I saw the notations of the match in chessbase, and I couldn't understand why Boris resigned. Anand was no where close to checkmate. I don't see why he didn't just trade his queen for a bishop and continue and maybe force a draw.
More importantly, resigning gives away the advantage he got by winning the previous match. Can someone explain what Anand should have done to checkmate Gelfand from the final position ? I can't see it.

user11245: Here's my take (FWIW):

Black's remaining queenside pieces are undeveloped, 
He's lost control of the dark squares, 
He can't conquer either White's back or 2nd rank,
His queen is trapped,
He's about to get a spike pawn shoved down his throat at h6, 
All of this has happened in 17 moves, meaning
Anand must have foreseen this variation in his home preparation, so
Anand knows Black is lost, and
With so few pieces left, a refutation is just out of the question.

It's a pretty big list.

user9684: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1666558 the shortest game is World Championship history.  It's not so much the material difference, after Bd3 Qxb1+ two Rooks is not enough for the Queen and the Bishop, but the weakness around the Black King will cause Gelfand to lose anyway.  After h6 and Ne4, d6 will fall and mate is always possible on g7.  A thorough annotation is at http://www.ajschess.com/lifemasteraj/FIDE_World-Champ-2012_game-eight.html 

[fen ""]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5
8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1
Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2 


10737: <p>I saw the notations of the match in chessbase, and I couldn't understand why Boris resigned. Anand was no where close to checkmate. I don't see why he didn't just trade his queen for a bishop and continue and maybe force a draw.</p>

<p>More importantly, resigning gives away the advantage he got by winning the previous match. Can someone explain what Anand should have done to checkmate Gelfand from the final position ? I can't see it.</p>
 11245: <p>Here's my take (FWIW):</p>

<ul>
<li>Black's remaining queenside pieces are undeveloped, </li>
<li>He's lost control of the dark squares, </li>
<li>He can't conquer either White's back or 2nd rank,</li>
<li>His queen is trapped,</li>
<li>He's about to get a spike pawn shoved down his throat at h6, </li>
<li>All of this has happened in 17 moves, meaning</li>
<li>Anand must have foreseen this variation in his home preparation, so</li>
<li>Anand knows Black is lost, and</li>
<li>With so few pieces left, a refutation is just out of the question.</li>
</ul>

<p>It's a pretty big list.</p>
 9684: <p><a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1666558" rel="nofollow">http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1666558</a> the shortest game is World Championship history.  It's not so much the material difference, after Bd3 Qxb1+ two Rooks is not enough for the Queen and the Bishop, but the weakness around the Black King will cause Gelfand to lose anyway.  After h6 and Ne4, d6 will fall and mate is always possible on g7.  A thorough annotation is at <a href="http://www.ajschess.com/lifemasteraj/FIDE_World-Champ-2012_game-eight.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ajschess.com/lifemasteraj/FIDE_World-Champ-2012_game-eight.html</a> </p>

<pre><code>
[fen ""]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5
8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1
Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2 
</code></pre>
