Anand, Kasparov in 4th Draw

The fourth game of the Professional Chess Assn. world championship was drawn Friday at the World Trade Center in New York.

All four games between champion Garry Kasparov of Russia and challenger Viswanathan Anand of India have ended in draws.

The first week of play concludes with the score tied, 2 to 2.

The match is scheduled to last 20 games, or five weeks. The winner needs 10.5 points. Each win counts as one point, and a draw counts as a half-point.

Friday’s game, the shortest of the match, finished unexpectedly quickly.

Playing White, Kasparov obtained a small advantage in the opening. Anand chose to give up a pawn to keep his pieces working actively.

In the final position, Black controls most of the light squares, which makes a blockade likely. Nevertheless, it is surprising that Kasparov did not test Anand’s defense by continuing the game.

Four straight draws are not unusual in chess, because the best players draw about half of their games.

But Kasparov’s lack of ambition is puzzling. In both the first and fourth games, he reached comfortable positions and offered draws. Perhaps he felt unsure of himself on Friday because he barely escaped losing in the third game on Thursday.

After a weekend break, the match resumes Monday. Here are the moves of Friday’s game:

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 g3 0-0 5 Bg2 d5 6 Qb3 c5 7 0-0 Nc6 8 d3 h6 9 e3 Re8 10 a3 dxc4 11 dxc4 Bxc3 12 Qxc3 e5 13 b4 e4 14 Nd2 Qe7 15 b5 Ne5 16 Nxe4 Nf3+ 17 Bxf3 Nxe4 18 Bxe4 Qxe4 19 f3 Qe7 20 e4 Be6 21 Be3, Drawn.

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World Chess Championship

Friday’s game: Draw

Standings: tied 2 games apiece in the best-of-20 series

Next game: Monday