Kramnik and Leko draw game 13; final game of title match Monday

[Jack Rabbit]

World chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and his Hungarian challenger, Peter Leko, fought hard to a draw the 13th game of their match for the world title today in the Swiss resort of Brissago.

The game ended on the 65th move when Black (Kramnik) exchanged his Rook for White's last Pawn, leaving only the opposing Kings on the board. There was other no way for Black to stop the Pawn from reaching the eighth rank and queening.

Most observers, including the chess program Fritz 8, thought that Kramnik enjoyed a winning advantage for much of the endgame. However, this may have been an illusion as Leko succeeded in dawning the game in lines that varied little from expert analysis. Other commentators believe Kramnik may have blundered away the win on his 55th move.

Leko leads the match 7-6. A full point is awarded for each victory and half a point for each draw.

The final game of the match is scheduled for Monday at 3 pm Swiss time (6 am PDT). Kramnik will play White.

In order to retain his title, Kramnik must win the remaining game. That will end the match in a 7-7 tie. Otherwise, Leko will become the 15th world chess champion since Wilhelm Steinitz claimed the title after defeating Johannes Zukertort in a twenty-game match advertised as being for the "chess championship of the world" held in three American cities in 1886. Steinitz and Zukertort were regarded as being the two strongest players in the world at that time.

Official match site.
Kibitzing at ChessGames.com.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. In other news: Kasparov-Kazimdzhanov match set for January

A match between former world champion Garry Kasparov of Russia and current FIDE knockout tournament champion Rustam Kazimdzhanov of Uzbekistan will be held in Dubai in January.

FIDE is billing the match as being for the world title, although most chess enthusiasts will not share that bit of public relations. As far as most are concerned, including the present writer, the world champion is Vladimir Kramnik, who defeated Kasparov for the title in a match held in London four years ago. Kramnik appears set to surrender his title to Hungarian Peter Leko on Monday. Leko leads Kramnik by one point in a match in progress with only one game remaining.

It is hoped that the winner of the Kasparov-Kazimdzhanov match and the winner of the Kramnik-Leko match will play a match for a reunified world title sometime in 2005 or early 2006.

Kasparov broke with FIDE, the world chess federation, in a dispute over the organization of his match with official challenger Nigel Short in 1993. Kasparov and Short founded the Professional Chess Association and held match under the auspices of the PCA. FIDE, in an empty gesture, stripped Kasparov of his title and gave it to former world champion Anatoly Karpov before establishing the knockout tournament system in 1998.

Kasparov successfully defended his title against Viswanathan Anand of India in a match held in New York in 1995 before losing it to Kramnik in 2000.