Anand Draws again at Dortmund

Germany, June 26 (UNI) Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand drew against Israel's Boris Gelfand in the 3rd Round of the Dortmund Chess Meet being played at Dortmund Theatre.

This was Anand's 3rd successive draw in the championship. In fact all the games of the third round ended in draws.

Playing with black, Anand replied with d5 to Gelfand's opening move of d4 and the game immediately went in to Queens Gambit Declined Semi Slav pattern.

He played an interesting game. Gelfand did not go for his normal aggressive line as he had lost to Kramnik in the 2nd round game.

By 17th move, Anand clearly established black advantage over white but something kept ringing in his mind and when he played Qg5 on the next move, the advantage somehow minimised and it became clear that the game is going towards an eventual draw.

After the Knights were exchanged, not much was left and both the players decided to call it a day, and agreed to split the point.

''I think we got into a position which I had prepared. The problem was, even if white sacrifices its Queen, black can never be better. I suspect black was never worse either. I don't think I was ever better and after Qb5 move which I haven't looked at, I had to find ba6 so that we could make a draw because after that I think the position is about equal. Also he was running short of time. Ok, it was actually important for theory though it was not a long game,'' Anand spoke to UNI after his third drawn game.

The game between the World Jr Champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and the world chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik was also a short game which ended in a draw.

Mamedyarov, who lost his 2nd game against Evgeny Alekseev, playing with white opened with d4 and Kramnik replied with Nf6 and after some moves the game was played on Queens Indian lines.

He was in no mood to loose this game and therefore played coolly and did not make any blunder. Kramnik did try hard and in the endgame gave a weak check to the white king.

After which both the players concluded that no way any one of them has any advantage for a win and agreed for a draw.

The third game of the meet played on the Sicilian lines between Peter Leko and Arkadij Naiditsch also ended in a draw. Peter Leko did surprise his opponent with his Nc6 move but this did not deter the young German to deviate from his planned play.

The last game between Magnus Carlsen and Evgeny Alekseev was fought on Queens Indian Old Main Lines. Both the players were determined for a win and fought bitterly. Alekseev tried hard and attacked the white king but failed to achieve a win.

After repeating moves the players agreed for a draw.

Results Round 3 Boris Gelfand drew with Viswanathan Anand Shakhriyar Mamedyarov drew with Vladimir Kramnik Peter Leko drew with Arkadij Naiditsch Magnus Carlsen drew with Evgeny Alekseev Standing After Round 3 Vladimir Kramnik 2 points Evgeny Alekseev 2 points Viswanathan Anand 1.5 points Magnus Carlsen 1.5 points Peter Leko 1.5 points Mamedyarov 1.5 points Boris Gelfand 1 point Arkadij Naiditsch 1 point Round 4 Pairing Viswanathan Anand vs Arkadij Naiditsch Evgeny Alekseev vs Peter Leko Vladimir Kramnik vs Magnus Carlsen Boris Gelfand vs Shakhriyar UNI