Anand-Kramnik draw first two boards

The first day of the of the ten-game Mainz Classic Rapid Chess Festival between World champion Vishwanathan Anand and BrainGames champion Vladimir Kramnik saw the champs drawing both boards albeit in contrasting styles.

While the first game was all about gritty play, the other outlined cautious approach.

The much-hyped clash of the two of the most formidable players of all time started in Mainz, Germany, at the spectacular 'Rheingoldhalle' at Hotel Hilton with a very lively first game that witnessed the Queens Gambit Accepted.

Playing black, Anand appeared to be treading on thin ice in the middle-game. Till the 14th move, it was a repeat of an earlier game between Grandmaster John Speelan of England and GM P Schlosser of Germany.

Kramnik came up with a routine pawn sacrifice in the isolated queen pawn structure and initiated an attack along both the flanks. In what looked like a comfortable position for his opponent, Anand came up with a brilliant exchange sacrifice that netted him a couple of pawns as compensation.

Rattling moves fast in the first half of the game helped Anand immensely as Kramnik fell under time pressure. The exchange of Queens followed soon and daring piece-play gave Anand a slight advantage in the endgame.

However, it was not enough for a victory definitely and the draw was agreed to after 34 moves.

In the post-match conference, Anand justified why he opted for a draw in the first game in a slightly better position. "I could see that the pawns were falling and offered the draw."

Kramnik chipped in with a one liner too, "In professional chess, we feel like agreeing for a draw when the position is a draw".

It was probably exhaustion from the first game that had a telling effect on both the players in their second encounter.

Kramnik playing black this time, reverted to his new found ideas in the Berlin defence of the Ruy Lopez opening.

Though the world's highest rated player, Gary Kasparov, had successfully broken the "Berlin Wall" against Kramnik at Astana Super Grandmasters tournament last month, Anand did not venture into the complexities of the queen-less middlegame.

A couple of minor pieces got traded early in the opening and the outcome of the game was never in doubt by the 10th move. The draw was agreed upon the 14th move.

Earlier in the afternoon in the Fischer Random Chess match, GM Peter Leko of Hungary defeated GM Michael Adams of England by taking the lead with an imaginative display of creativity in the second game. The first game had ended in a draw after pieces got exchanged in heaps and the players arrived at a rook and opposite colour Bishops endgame.

Eight more games of 25 minutes a side are left to be played. They get an additional ten seconds for making each move. In case of a 5-5 tie, they will enter play offs to decide the winner on July 1.

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

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. a4 cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Re1 Bd7 12. Qe2 Re8 13. Rad1 Nd5 14. Bd2 Bf6 15. Ne4 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Bg5 Qb6 18. a5 Qa7 19. Nd6 Rf8 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Be7 Be6 22. Qf3 Bxb2 23. Rb1 Qd4 24. Bxf8 Rxf8 25. Nxb7 Bc3 26. Re3 Bg4 27. Qg3 Bf5 28. Rf1 Bd2 29. Nd6 Bg6 30. Rf3 Bxa5 31. h4 Bc7 32. Nf5 Bxg3 33. Nxd4 Bxh4 34. Ra3 Bf6 1/2-1/2

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

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Re1 Nf6 7. Nxe5 Be7 8. Qe2 Be6 9. d3 Nd7 10. Nc3 Nxe5 11. Qxe5 O-O 12. Bf4 Rc8 13. Qe3 b6 14. Qg3 1/2-1/2