Linares, March 8: Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India tried a theoritical novelty against Russia's Vladimir Kramnik but failed to cash on and agreed to split point to remain at the bottom after the seventh round of Linares Super GM chess tournament, here on Tuesday. World No. 1 Garry Kasparov of Russia could make no progress in a superior endgame and had to settle for a draw against compatriot FIDE World champion Alexander Khalifmann. The chess wizard leads the six-player field along with Kramnik on 4.5 points each. Hungarian Peter Leko, with 3.5 points, is on the third spot. Anand opened with King pawn with white pieces and was up against the Petroff defence of Kramnik. A theoritical novelty uncorked by Anand on move 13 ensured him a slightly better middle game but after the exchange of queens Kramnik sacrificed a rook for knight to arrive at an evenly balanced endgame. Anand though was up in material from a layman's perspective, he knew that black's position had become impregnable. On move 25, the draw proposal of Anand was gladly accepted by Kramnik who was gearing himself to play a long defensive game. And, this draw did not help Anand to come out of his last position on 2.5 points.Kasparov unleashed an attack against Khalifman's king as early as the seventh move by bringing his queen out in the French Winawer Lillinthal variation with white pieces. By playing a new move on his seventh turn Kasparov made sure of an exciting battle albeit at the cost of his centre. Khalifman's king remained uncastled throughout but with his central pawns he succeeded in making a fortress. Soon the queens got traded as Khalifmann tried to open up the queenside. The resulting endgame had more to it than what met the eye. Kasparov, sure that he was on good position thanks to his wonderful bishop and better pawn structure, tried hard to invade the opponent's wing but all his attempts were thwarted by Khalifmann in true street-fighter style. In the end Kasparov succumbed to Khalifmann's resourcefulness and agreed to a draw after 55 moves. Alexei Shirov of Spain had a miraculous escape against Peter Leko who played the English opening with white pieces. Leko obtained a firm bind in the centre and obtained two passed pawns in the ensuing endgame. However, a positional blunder on the 41st move eluded the Hungarian from winning his first game of the touranament. The game ended in a draw in 56 moves after several ups and downs. Standings after round VII: 1-2. Vladamir Kramnik and Gary Kasporov (Rus) (4.5); 3. Peter Leko (Hun) (3.5); 4-5. Alexander Khalifmann (Rus) and Alexei Shirov (Spain) (3.0); 6. Viswanathan Anand (Ind) (2.5).
