World Chess championship: Anand a step closer to the title

BONN (Germany): World Champion Viswanathan Anand took another step forward to retain the world crown by taking another draw with challenger Vladimir


Viswanathan Anand contemplates the next move against Vladimir Kramnik. (AP Photo)
More PicturesKramnik of Russia in the 9th game of the world championship match on Sunday. ( Watch ) Anand retained his 3-points lead following the draw with white pieces and is now just a draw away from retaining the crown he won last year in Mexico. The scoreline now stands at 6-3 in Anand's favour with three more games
to go. If one goes by the rules of the world championship, the match is as good as over unless Kramnik is able to win the last three remaining games, an almost impossible task possible only if disaster strikes Anand. The 9th game also saw the Queen pawn opening by Anand for the fifth time in the match. It was a bloody battle as Kramnik decided to give Anand a taste of his own medicine, the Semi-Slav's sharp Moscow system.
Anand was a little worse for some time according to the experts but played determinedly to steer the game to a draw. For the records Anand did not enter the main complexities of the system and went for a relatively less-played system these days. Kramnik, obviously under pressure to win the game, came up with a new idea on the 11th move and got the desired results as Anand came under pressure as the game progressed.
However, the nature of the position remained very complicated which is typical of the opening setup and Anand always had his chances. The Indian ace remained a pawn less for the major part of the game but got the opportunity to convert to a rook and opposite coloured Bishops endgame. Kramnik figured out a temporary way to trouble Anand in the endgame by sacrificing his Bishop for two pawns on the 38th move.
Anand had to find a few defensive moves thereafter and when the Russian could no longer improve his position further he had to win the piece back and the players arrived at a double rook endgame with just a pawn each. The draw was agreed to after 45 moves, Anand clearly has emerged as the superior player in the match. The 10th game on Monday is Kramnik's last chance to make amends in what has been a dramatically one-sided affair thus far. As thing have shaped up though, it seems that the world championship is poised to end after the next game.