Kasparov plays to a draw with Anand

Former World champion Vishwanathan Anand was at his defensive best as he drew an exciting game against World No. 1 Gary Kasparov of Russia in the third round of the Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament on Monday.

The draw kept Anand on the top of the table with 1.5 points from three games. He get a much-needed day off in the fourth round where he has his first bye.

Two Spaniards Grandmasters Pons Vallejo and Alexei Shirov (both 1.0/3) and Michael Adams (1.0/2) of England jointly share the lead with Anand while Kasparov and World champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine have one point from two games.

At the bottom of the standings is Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, who has one point from three games.

It was an electrifying draw that Anand played out against his bete noire Kasparov.

Playing black, the Indian ace, who has been suffering from a lack of form in the recent past, opened with the Sicilian Taimanov for the second time in the tournament and was up against a new idea by Kasparov on the 16th move that was a deviation from an earlier game played between Grandmaster Vitaly Tsheshkovsky and Tregubov last year.

Unruffled by Kasparov's heroics on the King side, Anand went on improving his pieces on the other flank and took firm control on the queenside proceedings with simple and effective manoeuvres.

The danger came in the form of an attack against the king that Kasparov conducted with timely deployment of his queen, rook and Bishop.

Resourceful as he is, Anand gave up a pawn on the kingside and recovered it with a tactical stroke a few moves later.

Unable to penetrate decisively, Kasparov fell under time pressure and finally decided that blacks fortress on the kingside was impregnable. The draw was agreed to in 42 moves.

With black pieces, the draw can be considered a favourable result for Anand.

Their last encounter early last year in the Wijk Ann Zee tournament was also a draw.

While Kasporov and Anand were locked in a deadly duel, Alexei Shirov decided to play it safe against Michael Adams and opted for a safer option in the Roy Lopez opening with white pieces.

Many believed Shirov did not want to risk a high tension game in Adams's favourite Marshall gambit. As a result, Adams got an easy equality in the ensuring middlegame and was never in trouble. The game never left the boundaries of a draw and it was signed in just 25 moves when Shirov decided to repeat moves.

Earlier report:
Anand held by Vallejo

The Moves:
White: Gary Kasparov
Black: Vishwanathan Anand
Result: 1/2-1/2
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3 Bb4 9. Na4 Be7 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Nb6 Rb8 12. Nxc8 Qxc8 13. Bd4 O-O 14. e5 Nd5 15. c4 Nf4 16. Bf3 Qc7 17. Re1 Ng6 18. c5 f6 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. Be4 Nf4 21. Bxf6 Rxf6 22. Qc2 h6 23. Rad1 Nd5 24. g3 a5 25. a3 Rff8 26. Re2 Qd8 27. Rd4 Rb7 28. Bh7+ Kh8 29. Bd3 Qf6 30. Ra4 Ra8 31. Qd2 Qd8 32. Bb1 Rb5 33. Rh4 Qe7 34. Rxh6+ Kg8 35. Rh4 Rab8 36. Bh7+ Kf7 37. Qd3 Qg5 38. Qd4 Rxb2 39. Bg6+ Kg8 40. Bh7+ Kf7 41. Bg6+ Kg8 42. Bh7+