Kramnik still leading

World chess No 1 Garry Kasparov and his young challenger Vladimir Kramnik ended their ninth game in the Brain Games World Chess Championship in another draw here on Sunday.

The game ended after 30 moves and three hours of play, leaving Kramnik in an overall lead in the 16-match series, by 5-4.

Kasparov returned to his favourite king's pawn opening after two unsuccessful outings with the less demanding English Opening.

Clearly, Kasparov had prepared an improvement on earlier king pawn games but Kramnik was the first to spring a surprise, moving away from the unusual set-up in the Berlin Defence of the Spanish Opening, which had served him well in games one and three.

He returned to the traditional Berlin strategy, which involves quietly exchanging pieces until only a drawn endgame remains.

In game nine this plan worked perfectly, with Kasparov's slight initiative being neutralised at every turn.

As a commentator noted, if Kasparov cannot break down Kramnik's Berlin Wall soon, his days as World Champion could be numbered.

Seven games of the match remain, and with Kramnik holding advantage of white pieces in the next game on Monday, pressure is on Kasparov to prove that he deserves the world title he has claimed since 1985.

Kramnik won game two, inflicting Kasparov's first defeat in a classic game since January 1999, and the other eight have been drawn.