Kasparov on brink of losing crown

Reigning World champion for the last 15 years, Gary Kasparov is on the brink of losing his undisputed title, after drawing the 14th game with challenger Vladimir Kramnik in the BrainGames World Chess Championship in London.

Kramnik is now leading the 16-game series 8-6 and needs only one more draw from the remaining two matches to clinch the coveted title from his former teacher Kasparov.

All is yet not over for Kasparov as he might retain the crown if he manages to win the last two boards. This, however, seems a distant possibility going by the number of opportunities the champion has lost in the series.

Kramnik, playing with White, made a variation from earlier games on Tuesday and opened with 1.Nf3, followed by 2.c4. This change in strategy worked in favour of Kramnik.

Kasparov, at a slight disadvantage of playing with Black, won a pawn early in the game and tried to give a fight unlike his last game when he offered to draw after a mere 14 moves.

Kasparov defended the White attack by using both his bishops, thereby conceding space to the White but restricting exchanges.

On the 17th move, Kramnik had a slight advantage but the title-aspirant blundered on the very next move. Kasparov exploited the opportunity with a c-pawn. On move 29, Kramnik again misjudged and sacrificed a pawn.

The game later boiled down to a simplified position where Kasparov had four pawns and Kramnik three. Kasparov showed determination before agreeing to a draw on the 57th move.