Kramnik downs Anand in game 3

Vladimir Kramnik ended the second day of his 10-game clash with Indian world champion Vishwanathan Anand with a 2.5-1.5 lead after winning the third game in the first session of the day. Later in the evening, the two players drew the fourth game after 25 moves.

In the first decisive game of the match, Anand seemed to have missed a move following Kramnik’s 23rd move and paid the penalty.

Before the match began, Anand and wife Aruna were presented with a bouquet on the occasion of their fifth wedding anniversary. But, for Anand, a better present would have been a win on the day.

In the third game, which had the Spanish Opening, Kramnik used the Berlin wall, which he had used effectively to draw four games with black against Garry Kasparov last year.

Kramnik clung to the slight edge he managed in the middle game after the disappearance of the queens from the board and converted that into a victory. But he was also helped by an Anand oversight, as the Indian champion missed Kramnik’s 23rd move g3.

Anand agreed that it was a mistake. Kramnik, meanwhile, chose not make much of the win since there are still more games left.

In game four, Kramnik playing white, had the upperhand, but was down on time. He repeated the positions and offered a draw after 25 moves to keep his lead intact.

Thursday is a rest day and the match will resume on Friday.

On the first day, Tuesday, the two players drew their first two games in the 10-game match.

Anand may be the favoured one because of his reputation in rapid chess, but Kramnik is no slouch as he proved with a win over Garry Kasparov in a blitz match in Kasparov’s own Champions Club recently.

The 10-game series concludes on July 1. The time control for the games is 25 minutes per match plus ten seconds for each move.

Earlier in the Fischer Random chess, Hungary’s Peter Leko extended his lead over Michael Admas of England with a second win in the fourth game of their eight game match.

Earlier, Leko and Adams drew the third game. Leko's win in the fourth game came in 29 moves.

On the opening day, the two had drawn the first-ever game in the version and then Leko scored the first win in the second game.

Leko now leads 3-1 with two draws.

"I consider this as a training match and we will see how it goes for the future. The challenge is try out something new," said Leko.

In the third game the players were hit by time pressure and agreed to draw in an unclear position. A little later in the fourth game, Leko played very well to score his second win of the match.

The third game had a starting position with the major pieces on first four files with the King and queen on ‘b‘ and ‘c‘ files.

In the fourth game the King was on b-file and the queen on g-file. Rooks occupied the ‘a‘ and ‘d‘ files, while Bishops were on ‘c‘ and ‘f‘ files and the Knights on ‘b‘ and ‘e‘ files.

Round 3
White: Vishwanathan Anand
Black: Vladimir Kramnik
Result: 0-1

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 h6 10. h3 Bd7 11. b3 Kc8 12. Bb2 b6 13. Rad1 Ne7 14. Rd2 c5 15. Rfd1 Be6 16. Ne2 g5 17. h4 g4 18. Nh2 h5 19. Rd8+ Kb7 20. Rxa8 Kxa8 21. Rd8+ Kb7 22. Nf4 Ng6 23. g3 c4 24. bxc4 Nxf4 25. gxf4 g3 26. Nf1 gxf2+ 27. Kh2 Bxc4 0-1

Round 4
White: Vladimir Kramnik
Black: Vishwanathan Anand
Result: 1/2-1/2

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O c5 7. Bb3 Nc6 8. Nc3 cxd4 9. exd4 Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Qd2 h6 12. Bf4 Re8 13. Rad1 Bf8 14. Ne5 Ne7 15. Qd3 Ned5 16. Bc1 b5 17. Qg3 Bb7 18. Bxh6 Nxc3 19. bxc3 Ne4 20. Qg4 Nf6 21. Qg5 Qe7 22. Rd3 Ne4 23. Qg4 Nf6 24. Qg5 Ne4 25. Qg4 Nf6 1/2-1/2

Earlier reports:
Anand-Kramink draw first two boards