Halfway through,no breakthrough

The series of draws can also be put down to the depth of preparation by both sides,especially the team of seconds that analyse and come up with new departures from the opening theory. In Fridays game,for example,Anand came up with a novelty when he castled king side on move 14,giving up a pawn for better position of his rooks along the d and e files. Gelfand was principled in his reply and did not allow black much counterplay as he gave the pawn back a few moves later.

Though Gelfands Queen and rook made brief sorties into blacks territories,he was not able to gain much mileage out of the exercise. The usual exchange of pieces soon followed,and the center of the board was once again cleared of pawns. The rook and similar coloured bishops ending did not yield a significant advantage for either player,despite blacks unconnected pawns on the a and c files.