Anand draws again; Kasparov, Kramnik lead

FIDE World champion Vishwanathan Anand (Black) of India was held to a draw by Alexei Fedorov of Belarus in round four of the Corus chess championship on Wednesday. The players mutually agreed to a draw after 23 moves.

Alexander Morozevich (White) of Russia, who moved to the lead along with Garry Kasparov after the third round on Tuesday, was forced to return down the ladder after he was beaten by Michael Adams of England in 27moves.

The result placed him alongside Anand with 2.5 points.

Anand faced the Belorussian grandmaster's Kings Gambit. Fedorov refused a draw in the opening and got a promising position. But in the end game he preferred to get rid of the queens rather than try and drive home the advantage.

Kasparov (Black), who drew his fourth round match with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, shares the top spot in the 14-player tournament with Vladimir Kramnik on three points. Ivanchuk was the first rival to play the main line of the Sicilian against Kasparov. It has been said before that the only way to beat Kasparov is with the Sicilian.

Kramnik also tasted success on Wednesday. Playing white, the Russian beat Sergey Tiviakov of The Netherlands in 38 moves. It was a very open game and evaluation of the positions was unclear till the end. Tiviakov tried his best but could not match Kramnik's level of play.

The Corus Chess tournament

Fedorov - Anand

1.e4 e5
2.f4 exf4
3.Nf3 g5
4.h4 g4
5.Ne5 d6
6.Nxg4 Nf6
7.Nxf6+ Qxf6
8.Nc3 Nc6
9.Nd5 Qg6
10.d3 Qg3+
11.Kd2 Ne7
12.Qe1 Nxd5
13.exd5+ Be7
14.Qxg3 fxg3
15.Be2 Rg8
16.Kd1 Bg4
17.Bg5 Bxg5
18.Bxg4 Bf6
19.Bf5 Kf8
20.c3 Re8
21.d4 h5
22.Rh3 Bg7
23.Rxg3
1/2-1/2

Results of Round 4:

Fedorov,A - Anand,V 1/2
Ivanchuk,V - Kasparov,G 1/2
Kramnik,V - Tiviakov,S 1-0
Morozevich,A - Adams,M 0-1
Topalov,V - Van Wely,L 1/2
Leko,P - Timman,J 1/2
Shirov,A - Piket,J 1-0