Viswanathan Anand 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
1.d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. Bh5 Bf8 15. Bxf8 Rxf8 16. e5 Qb6 17. b3 O-O-O 18. bxc4 Nxe5 19. c5 Qa5 20. Ne4 Qb4 21. Nd6+ Rxd6 22. cxd6 Nd7 23. a4 Qxd6 24. Bf3 Nb6 25. axb5 cxb5 26. Bxb7+ Kxb7 27. Qh5 Nd5 28. Qxh6 Nf4 29. Kh1 Qd5 30. f3 Rd8 31. Qg7 Rd7 32. Qf8 Ne2 33. Rfe1 Nxd4 34. Red1 e5 35. Rac1 Qd6 36. Qg8 f6 37. Rc8 a5 38. h3 a4 39. Qe8 Kb6 40. Rb8+ Ka5 41. Ra8+ 1/2-1/2
