Kramnik cashes in on Anand's mistake

By Arvind Aaron

MAINZ, JUNE 28. World chess champion Viswanathan Anand made a serious mistake in game three to trail Braingames World chess champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia by 1.5-2.5 in the best of ten rapid chess duel at the Mainz chess classic at the Rheingoldhalle on Wednesday.

After making a draw by repetition in the fourth game with the black pieces, Anand trails the match. Six games remain to be played in this 10-game series between the two champions. The winner will be decided on July 1.

Game three saw Anand play white and face the Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez head on with the main line. Anand did not miss the vital fifth move this time. Choosing a line which is working well for white, Anand exchanged queens and penetrated with his rook to control the lone open file.

Black seized the initiative when white overlooked the tactic on the 25th move. Kramnik even sat with a slight smile signifying that what white overlooked.

Anand missed a tactical shot on the 25th move while playing his own 24th and it virtually decided the encounter. Black won a pawn and had a variety of threats including a deadly discovered attack which made white's aggressively placed rook a vulnerable one on the board. Having to lose a knight and continue the game, Anand decided to resign on the 27th turn.

It was Kramnik's first rapid chess victory over Anand in 28 encounters. Both players had seven minutes and Anand's miss was not caused by any time problem, only a rare careless tactical oversight. Some of these could be the dangers of playing advanced chess prior to the match.

In game four, Anand accepted the queen's gambit like he did in the opening game with the black pieces. They quickly reached a middlegame with an isolated queen pawn. Kramnik as white holding an aggressive position won a pawn on the 18th move in the heart of black's king side. Repetition looked imminent but Anand found danger in those lines and opted to play a pawn down after 24 moves.

With his time ticking away, Kramnik tried to pump time repeating moves twice but could not find a good line although he had the better position on the board. Ninety seconds remaining was too less and the Braingames champion decided to propose a draw without making a move and keep his slender one point lead.

Anand hates losing before the rest day. But has time to refresh his strategies in the extra day. Kramnik has a one point lead after Anand played against himself in game three.

Speaking about the day's games, GM Elizbar Ubilava told The Hindu, ``it was a big tactical mistake in game three and I don't know maybe he lost his concentration at that moment.''

Kramnik said if he had time he would have tried to win the position. He said the two choices before him: to exchange queens and sacrifice a piece both did not offer white much except a risk in the later. ``If I had time I would have known if I had something or nothing,'' Kramnik said.

Thursday is a free day for this match and the fifth game will resume on Friday. The Fischer Random Match and a tournament for journalists are scheduled for tomorrow.

Leko In Lead

In the first Fischer Random match, Hungary's Peter Leko had a powerful attack to win the fourth game in 29 moves and take a 3-1 lead in the eight game match against Michael Adams. Leko had a mate in two when Adams resigned after his king was caught.

In the third game, Adams was pressing him but couldn't get more than a draw in 34 moves with the white pieces.

The moves:

GM V. Anand-GM V. Kramnik, match game three, Ruy Lopez, Berlin variation, C67: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.h3 Bd7 11.b3 Kc8 12.Bb2 b6 13.Rad1 Ne7 14.Rd2 c5 15.Rfd1 Be6 16.Ne2 g5 17.h4 g4 18.Nh2 h5 19.Rd8+ Kb7 20.Rxa8 Kxa8 21.Rd8+ Kb7 22.Nf4 Ng6 23.g3 c4 24.bxc4 Nxf4 25.gxf4 g3 26.Nf1 gxf2+ 27.Kh2 Bxc4 0-1. Time left: 7.07/07.52.

GM V. Kramnik-GM V. Anand, match game four, queen's gambit accepted, D27: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Bxc4 e6 6.0- 0 c5 7.Bb3 Nc6 8.Nc3 cxd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.Bg5 0-0 11.Qd2 h6 12.Bf4 Re8 13.Rad1 Bf8 14.Ne5 Ne7 15.Qd3 Ned5 16.Bc1 b5 17.Qg3 Bb7 18.Bxh6 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Ne4 20.Qg4 Nf6 21.Qg5 Qe7 22.Rd3 Ne4 23.Qg4 Nf6 24.Qg5 Ne4 25.Qg4 Nf6 Draw. Time left: 01.30/9.19.

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