Anand draws with Kramnik

World champion Vishwanathan Anand drew both his games against Braingames match winner Vladimir Kramink of Russia to maintain his third position after the 10th and penultimate round in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament, in Monte Carlo.

Veselin Topalov gave yet another excellent display and defeated Peter Leko of Hungary 1.5-0.5 to join Kramnik in the lead on 14 points. Topalov has a distinct advantage going into the last round as he takes on Ljubomir Ljubojevic of Yugoslavia while Kramnik faces a potentially tough match with Leko.

Anand seems assured of a third place though he too has a tough opposition in defending champion Alexei Shirov of Spain.

Playing black, Anand surprised Kramnik by opting for the Queen's Gambit Accepted in the rapid game. Kramnik, who had used a very safe set up in the variation to beat Kasparov last year, did not get his desirable position as Anand was obviously not content with defending an inferior endgame.

However as it turned out, the Indian ace had to defend a worse endgame. In the classical isolated Queen pawn structure, Kramnik came up with a thematic breakthrough in the centre and Anand was saddled with a weak pawn.

As Kramnik began to exert pressure after the exchange of Queens, Anand decided to part with a pawn and entered a rook and pawn endgame where he had reasonable drawing chances.

Kramnik kept trying hard and probably missed a win in the opinion of experts. After 76 moves of a grueling battle the players agreed for a draw.

The blindfold was not as well-fought, as Anand did not get much from the white side of a Queen's Gambit Declined this time. Kramnik, who has had enough experience with the set up did not have an iota of suspicion about his piece play and exchanged the minor pieces one after the other.

Soon a heavy pieces endgame was on board with neither player having a chance. The draw was a natural result.

Topalov has shown terrific strength in this event. He is the only player to have beaten both Anand and Kramnik in this tournament. The Bulgarian mesmeised Leko in the 10th round with his superior technique and won the battle 1.5-0.5.

In the rapid game that witnessed the established manoeuvres of a Petroff defence, Topalov, playing white, got a miniscule advantage after the opening. Leko put up a stiff resistance and the game carried on till the endgame when the draw was agreed to in 28 moves.

In the Blindfold, Topalov outclassed Leko in the technical phase of the game. With a variety of opening repertoire, Topalov started with the Arkhengelsk variation of the Ruy Lopez with black pieces and the game transposed into and endgame with roughly equally chances.

With excellent king advance at the right juncture, Topalov seized the initiative and won a pawn. Leko lost control of the proceedings very soon and called it a day after 64 moves.

Shirov lost to Ljubojevic in the only other decisive encounter of the day. Shirov's loss was quite unchracterstic as he enjoyed a better position for the major part in the rapid game.

Ljubojevic employed the Sicilian Taimanov with black pieces and Shirov got a miniscule advantage out of the opening. The pieces got exchanged in tandem and in the Queen and minor piece endgame Shirov could have easily drawn by repetition.

Ljubojevic, who was waiting for the chance, cashed in on the opporrtunity and created a mating web to force Shirov's resignation.

In the Blindfold, Ljubojevic played it safe and drew comfortably with the white pieces.

Boris Gelfand of Israel and former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia drew both their games against Zoltan Almasi of Hungary and Loek Van Wely of Netherlands respectively for an identical 1-1 result.

Standings after round 10:

1-2. Vladimir Kramnik (Rus), Veselin Topalov (Bul) 14 points.
3. Vishwanathan Anand (Ind) 12.5.
4. Alexei Shirov (Esp) 10.5.
5. Peter Leko (Hun) 10.
6. Jeroen Piket (Ned) 9.5.
7. Boris Gelfand (Isr) 9.
8-9. Zoltan Almasi (Hun), Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yug) 8.5.
10-11. Anatoly Karpov (Rus), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) 8.
12. Loek Van Wely (Ned) 7.5 points.