World Championship: 7th game drawn

Update: video added. The second half of the Anand-Kramnik World Championship match has started with a draw in 37 moves. Playing the white pieces again, Anand got a slight advantage in an ending but by sacrificing a pawn Kramnik forced a liquidation to a drawn pawn ending. It's 5-2 for Anand now.

Today Kramnik finally managed to surprise his opponent in the opening a little, but just a little. The Russian deviated from previous games already at move one, by going for 1...d5, but it didn't really get him any closer to getting some winning chances; Anand just played too solid today. Perhaps even a bit too solid, because the Indian might have missed a study-like win in the ending today - as GM Erwin L'Ami informed us. It needs to be checked.

Yet again Kramnik's team couldn't convince us as far as the opening preparation is concerned: following the first rapid playoff game from his match against Topalov, he deviated with 15...Bg6 but just a few moves later he was looking at a position where White was just slightly better and not even close to getting into trouble. A Benoni or a Leningrad Dutch were suggestions I've seen online for getting practical chances with Black...

Realizing this wasn't going to be his day, Kramnik accompanied his queen exchange with a draw offer, but there he actually overestimated his position: he had not yet fully equalized yet, as Anand showed in the next few moves. The challenger needed some accurate moves to prove that it was indeed a draw - and this time he did find them.

So now there are five games left, with three White games for Kramnik. It's safe to say that tomorrow is the moment of truth: if he hadn't retained his title yet, Anand will do it tomorrow if he doesn't lose. A first win for Kramnik might unsettle the Indian to some extend, and who knows how he will react. Nobody really believes in Kramnik's chances anymore (including Anatoli Karpov and Evgeny Bareev, who arrived in Bonn today) but if he wins tomorrow, anything can happen! As always, you'll be able to watch the game live here at ChessVibes.









Here's the 7th match game:



Match score:

Name

Nat.

Rtg

G01 14/10

G02 15/10

G03 17/10

G04 18/10

G05 20/10

G06 21/10

G07 23/10

G08 24/10

G09 26/10

G10 27/10

G11 29/10

G12 31/10

Anand

IND

2783

?Ǭ?

?Ǭ?

1

?Ǭ?

1

1

?Ǭ?

5

Kramnik

RUS

2772

?Ǭ?

?Ǭ?

0

?Ǭ?

0

0

?Ǭ?

2

Here's our playlist of videos. If the game 7 video doesn't show, please try removing your temporary internet files, and then (Ctrl-)F5.



Links:

• Official website
• Foidos
• Game commentary at TWIC, Crestbook, Chesspro and Chessdom
• Videos by Europe-Echecs
• Mig Greengard blogging
• GM Ian Rogers blogging
• Dennis Monokroussos blogging
• Games in PGN provided by TWIC

(Note that the comments below this article started during our live coverage of the game)