Third game headed for draw

By Our Chess Correspondent

CHENNAI, OCT. 13. The third game between Vladimir Kramnik and champion Garry Kasparov was intriguingly poised after four hours of play with Kramnik set to survive a poor position and share honours in the Braingames World chess championship at the Riverside Television Studios in West London on Thursday evening.

Kramnik leads the 16-game match 1.5-0.5 and if this game is drawn, he will keep the advantage with a white game to follow. Kasparov missed his chances in the early middlegame after showing his class in the opening stages of this fast-paced encounter.

Successful strategies are to be repeated. That's fair to marketing and advertising, perhaps not in sports. The element of surprise has a value in chess and when that is lost, it can spell danger.

That Kramnik repeated the Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez as black came as a surprise to the followers who expected him to show his second line of preparation and stay away from Kasparov's preparation. The champion came up with a different move on the 12th turn, following a Shirov idea. White's deft knight manoeuvre clogged the black king side and Kramnik was struggling to develop his king side fully. Up on the board and on the clock, Kasparov had the best moment in the match at move 17. It was the same middlegame as in game one without queens, Kramnik as black and Kasparov playing white.

After white's 21st move, black started to improve his position. The pawn advance on the queen side by black on move 30 opened up the game considerably offering both sides a winning chance. It was also the critical time control period with Kasparov holding an edge on the clock.

In a double-edged position, Kramnik's 34...Rg8 looked inaccurate, and once again, the game swung in white's favour.

The moves:

GM G. Kasparov-GM V. Kramnik, match game three, Ruy Lopez, Berlin variation, C67: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Bd7 10.b3 h6 11.Bb2 Kc8 12.Rad1 b6 13.Ne2 c5 14.c4 Bc6 15.Nf4 Kb7 16.Nd5 Ne7 17.Rfe1 Rg8 18.Nf4 g5 19.Nh5 Rg6 20.Nf6 Bg7 21.Rd3 Bxf3 22.Rxf3 Bxf6 23.exf6 Nc6 24.Rd3 Rf8 25.Re4 Kc8 26. f4 gxf4 27.Rxf4 Re8 28.Bc3 Re2 29.Rf2 Re4 30.Rh3 a5 31.Rh5 a4 32.bxa4 Rxc4 33.Bd2 Rxa4 34.Rxh6 Rg8 35.Rh7 Rxa2 36.Rxf7 Ne5 37.Rg7 Rf8 38.h3 c4 39. Re7 Nd3 40.f7 Nxf2, game in progress.

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