"The position appeared innocuous but there was lot of venom hidden in it." Viswanathan Anand summed up the day minutes after he drew the first game of the World Chess Championship with 33-year-old Vladimir Kramnik at the Art and centCulture Exhibition re here yesterday.

The other gentleman, Kramnik also had no hesitation in agreeing with his opponent saying: "Draw is a normal result and it is not our fault. If players with equal strength are clashing without making mistakes the draw is a natural conclusion."

Opening

Kramnik, however, was emphatic that the Semi-Slav Opening, which has often been witnessed in their games before, had tilted slightly in his favour in the Opening.

Kramnik is one player who prefers to strike with Whites but it was a foregone conclusion that yesterday both players would just try to test each other's preparation rather than trying out any risky variations. Anand played solidly and the game was balanced throughout even as pieces were exchanged at regular intervals without much deliberation from either, till only the opposite coloured bishops were left on board.

At this point, after 32 moves, the players had no hesitation in calling truce, as the position was totally benign.
Earlier, the Championship was inaugurated with the national anthem of both countries, India and Russia played. Anand later confided, "There were usual pre-match jitters but once the National anthem was played, there was a sense of relief that now actually we can sit down and start playing." 

 'Annoying' Vishy

World Chess championships have been bitterly fought on and off board with the opponents sparing no effort to bark and bite at their opponents but the camaraderie between Vishy and Vlady as Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik are nicknamed was obvious as the two fielded questions at the press conference.

Kramnik when questioned on what he finds annoying about Anand, replied poker-faced: "I am really very annoyed by the good level of chess which my opponent has been showing. This was the only thing that was really, really annoying. The rest is completely all right."


Game 1, Kramnik vs Anand

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Bb5 0-0 10.Bxc6 Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Rc8 12.Ne5 Ng4 13.Nxg4 Bxg4 14.Qb4 Rxc6 15.Qxb7 Qc8 16.Qxc8 Rfxc8 17.0-0 a5 18.f3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Bg6 20.b3 f6 21.e4 dxe4 22.fxe4 Rd8 23.Rad1 Rc2 24.e5 fxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxa2 26.Ra1 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Rd5 28.Rc1 Rd7 29.Rc5 Ra7 30.Rc7 Rxc7 31.Bxc7 Bc2 32.Bxa5 Bxb3 draw.