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.
The players are back on stage for the second half, which might not last six games
Because the colours were changed, Vladimir Kramnik had to play with the black pieces again
Following a game from the Topalov-Kramnik match, Anand got a slightly better ending?¢‚Ǩ¬¶
...but went for "safety first" and decided to make if a comfortable draw
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: (Note that the comments below this article started during our live coverage of the game)
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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