Draw increases Anand8217;s sorrow

MUMBAI, JULY 16: Another draw by Vishwanathan Anand has almost scuttled the Indian Grandmasters8217; chance of winning the 27th Dortmund Grandmasters Championship here today.

Surprisingly, today8217;s draw came against Ivan Sokolov after 31 moves. Anand seemed to have some advantage but as soon Sokolov captured Anand8217;s queen, the players agreed to a draw. Sokolov would have gone on to lose his queen too.

All the other clashes in the other three boards were still in progress. Leader Peter Leko was playing Anatoly Karpov, Jan Timman battling Vaselin Topalov while Michael Adams was taking on Vladimir Kramnik.

The important match was on the fourth board between Leko, the current leader with four points, and Kramnik.