Sofia, Bulgaria: World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a draw against challenger Veselin Topalov in the third game of the world chess championship here on Tuesday night.
Even-stevens after two games, Anand Tuesday went for a Slav defence with black pieces, a move that was in marked contrast to his choice for the opening in the first game when the Indian ace had chosen the ultra sharp Grunfeld defence.
Topalov had apparently been expecting the Slav but possibly not the variation Anand chose as it was a choice popularised by Russian Vladimir Kramnik, a rival to Topalov and Anand in the last two world championship matches.
The game started on a sedate note, again quite unlike the first two games when both players went on a rampage with white pieces. It may be recalled that Topalov had won the first game in quick time, showcasing his deep preparation in the middle game arising out of a Grunfeld, and Anand had bounced back with a very convincing victory in the second game of the 12-games match.
Instead of running into Topalov’s strengths, Anand aimed at getting a decent position after the opening and then equalised to see if an opportunity came his way. This tactic worked fine and a draw with black means that the Indian has a slight edge in the match as he has more games with white pieces remaining.
As things turned out in one of the popular variations, the queens got traded very early giving Topalov an optical space advantage which lasted for quite some time but did not materialise into a significant advantage.
Anand’s 14th move solved his opening problems and he could develop his pieces harmoniously after nearly making a half move aimed at eliminating weaknesses on the kingside.
On his 20th turn, Topalov offered Anand a pawn which would have led to complications with a possibility of the Bulgarian coming out on top.
Anand did not need to think too deep to reject the pawn offer and concentrated on following the basics. And that ultimately proved enough to hold the balance.
Further exchanges forced the game into a rook and minor piece endgame wherein the outcome was clear by the 33rd move when Anand forcibly entered a pure rook ending. Thirteen moves later the draw was signed through a repetition of moves.
Interestingly, the observers were a bit surprised to see a lengthy 46-move game when the outcome was obvious much before. The reason for that can be found in Topalov’s adherence to the ‘Sofia rules’ according to which a draw can be agreed upon only through repetition or in consultation with the arbiter.
In other words, the players are not allowed to offer draws.
Anand apparently, did not agree to this proposal and Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov had gone on record saying that the Bulgarian would neither offer nor agree to draws during the match.
Anand had appeared vulnerable in the first game but the course of the match since then has shown that the defending champion has nerves of steel to back his fantastic preparation. The onus is on Topalov now as he gets ready to battle Anand with black in the fourth game.
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