The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Anand keeps Kramnik at bay

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Anand keeps Kramnik at bay

NEW DELHI: World champion Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik set off the pattern of draws in the second round of the Tal Memorial chess tournament after signing peace in just 29 moves in Moscow on Friday.

For the second day, all games ended in draws leaving all 10 players with one point each. This is the strongest event of the year with an average rating of 2764 and the trend of results show that every one is very well prepared. After two days and 10 games, a decisive game is still awaited.

Anand, playing black in succession, once again chose the Grunfeld Defence. Kramnik, once known for his prowess against Grunfeld, gave up his queen for a knight and a rook with an idea to make the most of an advanced queenside pawn. Anand returned the queen for the two pieces.

Draw was agreed when both players were left with a bishop and four pawns each.

In the third round, Anand plays white against Russia’s Peter Svidler.

The results:

Second round: Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 1) drew with Viswanathan Anand (1); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1) drew with Alexander Morozevich (Rus, 1); Peter Leko (Hun, 1) drew with Boris Gelfand (Isr, 1); Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr, 1) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm, 1); Peter Svidler (Rus, 1) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 1).

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