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Anand holds Kramnik to a face-saving draw August 04, 2003 16:08 IST Last Updated: August 04, 2003 17:40 IST After crashing to back-to-back defeats against 16-year-old Teimour Radjabov and Viktor Bologan, Viswanathan Anand held top seed and world No 2 Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to a face-saving draw in the fourth round of the Dortmund Sparkassen chess meeting. In the other ties, Moldovan Viktor Bologan scored his second big win beating Peter Leko of Hungary to stretch his lead to a full point. In a battle of teens, Arkadi Naiditsch (17) of Germany beat Radjabov of Azerbaijan with white to send the alarm bell ringing among the elite group. After four rounds, Bologan leads with a fantastic score of 3.5 points followed by Kramnik on 2.5. Naiditsch moved to 2 points with his enviable effort against Radjabov, who remained on 1.5 along with Leko. Anand brings up the rear with one point earned from two draws. Playing Kramnik has never been easy for Anand and it was again attested when the Indian ace, playing with white pieces, drew without giving any real problems to the big Russian, the only player after Garry Kasparov to have scaled the 2800 mark on the FIDE's ELO rating charts. It was yet another Sveshnikov opening and it was quite evident that Anand did not quite find a way to continue while retaining chances, when confronted against this opening. Kramnik faced little trouble with the oft-repeated opening variation and drew without much ado after Anand sacrificed his queen for two minor pieces and one pawn. The game, which ended Anand's two match losing streak, lasted just 25 moves. Naiditsch beat Radjabov in almost spectacular fashion. The Azerbaijani has got in the habit of beating stalwarts, as he did against Anand, but against Naiditsch the pressure to win took its toll. After a Sicilian defence start, Naiditsch got a firm hold over Radjabov, who went for unwarranted complications with a piece sacrifice. But the German however was quite prepared to tackle the ensuing complications. Radjabov sacrificed an exchange to go a rook down but his tactics were easily thwarted as the game progressed. After 48 moves, Naiditsch had his king safely on the middle of the board and forced Radjabov's resignation with material superiority. "From outside, my position might have looked a bit suspect with the king in the centre and pawns rolling down but white was always holding on and with accurate defence he was getting it tough and sacrificed his rook more in a last ditch effort," said Naiditsch analysing the game. Bologan was a bit lucky to win against Leko. But his perseverance and the Hungarian's lacklustre play, after getting into an advantageous position, were the main factors. Bologan has now beaten World No 3 (Anand) and No 4 (Leko) on successive days, a rare feat even for the best in the world. Both the games were played in the Caro Kann defence, which will surely become Bologan's pet if it has not already. The opening did not deter Leko and the Hungarian carried on nonchalantly in one of the main variations and had a substantial edge to boast of in the middle game. A fighter to the core, Bologan hung in there with the right kind of defence and Leko could not keep the momentum ticking his way. After a few exchanges Bologan was back in the game and his efforts were rewarded by Leko himself when the latter blundered on the 40th move by not trading queens. Soon Bologan piled on pressure to clinch the issue after 46 moves. Results of Round 4: Peter Leko (1.5, Hun) lost to Viktor Bologan (3.5, Mda); Viswanathan Anand (1) drew Vladimir Kramnik (2.5, Rus); Arkadi Naiditsch (2, Ger) beat Teimour Radjabov (1.5, Aze). The moves: V Anand vs Vladimir Kramnik: A Naiditsch vs T Radjabov: Peter Leko vs Viktor Bologan:
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