By Ian Rogers
The World chess championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov remains tied after the third game ended in an uneventful draw here on Tuesday.
Topalov, playing with white and thus the first move, was looking for a reprise of his crushing win in game one, but Anand switched opening systems and set about neutralizing all Topalov's efforts to take the initiative.
Pawn advance
On the 25th move, Anand surprisingly allowed a Topalov pawn advance, but his position remained solid enough to hold the position with few problems.
“At one moment the position was quite dangerous,” said Anand, “but I think I defended well.”
Topalov agreed: “I (believe) I had an advantage but I misplayed it and he was able to equalize.”
Topalov had declared before the match that he would not talk to his opponent and as a result the players repeated three different positions three times before, after 46 moves and almost four hours of play, Topalov approached the chief arbiter, Panagiotis Nikolopoulos, and asked him to offer a draw on his behalf to Anand.
Anand accepted the proposal but, in a sign that relations between the two players may be deteriorating, neither player made a move to shake hands, the traditional way to finish a game.
“I just forgot,” was Topalov's explanation at the post-game press conference while Anand joked “Maybe the arbiter (is the one who) has to shake hands!”
After Tuesday's third game Anand's match strategy is becoming clearer.
For the second consecutive game, Anand has exchanged queens early, removing the most dangerous attacking piece from the board.
Topalov, one of the modern era's greatest attacking Grandmasters, has then been forced into a manoeuvring game where he has so far failed to trouble Anand.
Fewer than 100 paying spectators attended Tuesday's game, the first to be played on a weekday, but the official match website has been recording record numbers, with close to half-a-million visitorswatching the second game.
The first draw in the match to date leaves the score tied at 1.5-1.5 with nine games remaining. With €1.2 going to the first players to reach 6.5 points, Anand will be hoping for a second win when he makes the opening move in the fourth game on Wednesday at 5.30 p.m. IST.
Source : The Hindu
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