World Chess Championship, Rounds Three and Four

One of the most important matches was played in this round as Anand faced Kramnik with white pieces. Unfortunately for the viewers, it ended in a draw which means we'll have to see later how these two giants play against other opponents for the lead. Kramnik was pushing for a win with a very strong position in the end, being an entire pawn up against Anand. However, Anand held his own against the past pawn and on move 65, a draw was forced. Svidler and Morozevich also had an interesting game, with the latter in victory. In the end, Svidler simply could not hold back against the passed pawns and attack against the king as his own pieces were scattered and uncoordinated. The other two games were draws although Leko v. Gelfand was a very interesting game as Leko was up by two pawns. However, Gelfand found a flaw and was able to repeatably check the white king and a draw was agreed on move 100.

Round Four of the World Chess Championship:

After their draw in round three, both Anand and Kramnik wanted to take the lead. In Kramnik v. Grischuk, Kramnik had a clear advantage with a Bishop vs Knight in an open end game. However, despite locking the knight down, the bishop was forced to retreat and the advantage slowly disappeared. A hard fought draw from Grischuk took place in the next 20 moves. In Morozevich v. Anand, Anand placed all of his hopes with the passed pawns in the center. However, the attack looked like it was in trouble so a draw was forced by Anand. Svidler v. Gelfand ended in a draw in just 24 moves. Aronian v. Leko gave Aronian his first victory. In the end, Leko simply did not have enough pieces to stop two rooks on the open file with a passed pawn, bishop and queen staring down on his queen.

The two leaders are still tied so we'll have to wait for rounds five and six for what will happen. If Kramnik wins the tournament, then he can be challenged by Topalov for the 2008 championship. However, if he does not win, then he will challenge the winner in the 2008 championship. This means that no matter what happens, we're sure to see more of Kramnik later on!

Current Standings:
Player - Seed - Points
Anand, Viswanathan 1 - 1.5/2
Kramnik, Vladimir 2 - 1.5/2
Svilder, Peter 6 - 1.0/2
Gelfand, Boris 7 - 1.0/2
Leko, Peter 4 - 1.0/2
Grischuk, Alexander 8 - 1.0/2
Morozevich, Alexander 3 - 0.5/2
Aronian, Levon 5 - 0.5/2