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Anand plays solid draw with Kramnik to stay one point ahead September 25, 2007 14:24 IST
Viswanathan Anand [Images] took a major step towards becoming the next World Chess Champion with a solid draw in the tenth round against arch-rival Vladimir Kramnik at the World Chess Championships in Mexico. Anand could have gone for the win, but placed a full point ahead with only four more rounds to go in the Championships he eschewed all risks and agreed for a draw. Anand is now on 6.5 points with three wins, the most by any player in these championships, and seven draws. He is a full point ahead of Boris Gelfand, who at 5.5 is also looking tired in the tense championship. Kramnik is lying joint third with fast-improving Peter Leko and Lev Aronian at five points. While Kramnik and Anand played a draw, Gelfand and Leko drew in 24 moves of a Catalan. Lev Aronian has begun salvaging the tournament with a good win over the out-of-form Alexander Grischuk in 42 moves from Queen's Gambit and Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich drew in 44 moves from a Caro-Kann. The tenth round was possibly the most crucial game, as Kramnik needed to beat Anand to stay in the hunt for the title. For Anand, a draw or a win here would make his path to the World title somewhat simpler. Playing in Anti-Meran gambit, Anand with black stayed solid. After coming out fairly equal in the opening, Kramnik tried to apply pressure with a new move on 17 th move. But Anand stayed his course. He had two pawns and a good position in return for an exchange. While Kramnik kept pushing for pressure, Anand had sufficient counter play. By the 33rd move, it was a position of dynamic balance which neither side could improve seriously. Still Anand managed an excellent position with his pawn moves. For a brief while Kramnik seemed in bit of a trouble. He may have pushed forward, but probably in view of his excellent position in the tournament, he did not want to take any big risks, while going for a win. So, he agreed for a draw, even though he showed very good play and is on his way to becoming the new World champion. In round 11, Anand will have white pieces against Morozevich. Pairings for Round 11 : Anand v Morozevich; Gelfand v Svidler; Grischuk v Kramnik; Leko v Aronian Results of Round 10: Gelfand drew with Leko; Kramnik drew with Anand; Aronian beat Grischuk; Svidler drew with Morozevich Standings after Round 10: 1. Anand 6.5; 2. Gelfand 5.5; 3. Kramnik, Leko and Aronian 5.0; 6. Grischuk and Morozevich 4.5; 8. Svidler 4.0 Kramnik v Anand More Chess reports | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
