With his back to the wall, Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik won game 10 against World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand of India in Germany on Monday to keep their title match going. Kramnik now trails 6-4 in the 12-game match and must win the next two games to force a playoff. Anand needs only one draw from the last two games to retain his title. Asked about his chances, Kramnik told reporters: “It's better for me not to think about them - they're still less than 50 percent.” Kramnik had the white side of what he called “a fashionable line” in the Nimzo-Indian Defense. His 18th move was a novelty that Anand called “tricky.” “It's not clear where Black should place his pieces,” Anand said. Kramnik said the position was highly nuanced. “It's very difficult to understand even for top players,” he said. Anand seems to achieve a comfortable position as German grandmaster Vlastimil Hort used the tiny space between his thumb and index finger to describe Kramnik's advantage. Anand was using a lot of time compared to Kramnik. For the first time in the match, Kramnik was significantly ahead on the clock - a half hour on move 22. Each player gets two hours for the first 40 moves. Kramnik questioned the accuracy of Anand's 22nd move and called his 23rd “the decisive mistake.” Rather than reposition his bishop as Kramnik suggested, Anand moved his f-pawn, weakening the squares around his king to bring his queen back into play. “It didn't fit the needs of the position,” Seirawan said. With the correct move, Kramnik said that “White is better but Black gets some play.” The punishment came with remarkable swiftness. Kramnik advanced his a-pawn to dislodge his opponent's knight on b6. Anand told reporters, “After 24.a4, it's incredibly difficult. I didn't know what to do. I'm not sure exactly what I did wrong.” Kramnik's heavy pieces quickly penetrated into the heart of Anand's position. Faced with a ruinous loss of material, Anand resigned on his 29th move. “White comes in and picks up everything,” Kramnik said later. “I didn't do anything special. It was a pleasant surprise.” Anand will have the advantage of the white pieces in game 11 on Wednesday. The moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5 18.Re1 c5 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2 21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3 Bg4 23.Qa6 f6 24.a4 Qf7 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Rab1 c4 27.a5 Na4 28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6 Black resigns. – AP __
