Bonn: Defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India played to a 29-move draw with Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik on Saturday in the fourth game of their world chess championship match.
Anand leads the 12-game match 2.5-1.5. He won the third game in spectacular style on Friday after the two men drew their opening games.
Saturday's draw was a tame affair in comparison with the previous day's game.
Anand had the white pieces and the opening was the solid Queen's Gambit Declined. As often happens in this opening, Black wound up with an isolated d-pawn and White had only the slightest chance of an advantage.
Kramnik summed the opening up after the game by saying that "White has to be very precise" to have an advantage. "One inaccurate move and it's a draw."
Indeed, Anand said that "Black was fairly comfortable" coming out of the opening.
The position seemed to be headed for a draw almost from the beginning. There was the usual maneuvering around the isolated pawn as White tried to prove that it was a weakness and Black tried to liquidate it.
Anand conceded that his 21st move, blockading the d-pawn, was "slightly inaccurate." Kramnik concurred but added: "I'm incredibly solid; it wouldn't have changed the result."
The game got somewhat interesting beginning on move 22 when Kramnik pushed forward his kingside pawns to drive Anand's bishop to a less active position.
While it seemed aggressive, Kramnik called it "a defensive move" preparing the advance of the d-pawn. He added that "it's not clear whose king is weaker." On move 27, Kramnik advanced his isolated d-pawn to d4 and liquidated his only weakness.
On the next move, Kramnik could have recaptured in the center with his knight, which would have maintained the tension a bit longer.
"I was trying to play for a win but I couldn't see what I could do," he said.
Kramnik decided to take the simplest and clearest draw. He and Anand shook hands almost immediately afterward.
Kramnik will have White in game five on Monday.
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