A worrying early sign as to Anand's form, as he repeats a similar move to a previous game, where he pushed this pawn that doesn't do much for activating his pieces. Kasparov already with a slight edge according to the computer!
Kasparov returns the favor with interest here. He's left his pawn a bit too weak and his bishop easy to target...
Kasparov has to scramble with his queen to defend the weak pawn.
The bishop is active, but also a little vulnerable.
Kasparov shuts down the threatened pawn push. Anand has to be a little careful here that he doesn't overextend. He's got a tonne of space, but also a lot of weak squares are being left behind the pawns as they march forward.
Kasparov drops his knight back, setting up the possibility of kicking back Anand's strong central knight at the right moment.
Kasparov goes a different direction than expected. Nice move again, shutting down Anand's possible pawn break in the center.
Kasparov's knight is for sure the best piece of the game right now. Very easy play here for Kasparov...not so much for Anand!
Anand looks to want to shut down the possible pawn push, threatening to plant itself on the outpost if Kasparov does push.
The queens coming off the board helps Anand's cause here, as it looks much closer to that draw that Vishy has been fighting for for some time.
No way to break through. We might see a draw very soon.
Super impressive play throughout the day from the legendary Garry Kasparov. Even in this last game, he outplayed Vishy Anand from the Black side and was the only one threatening to walk away with the full point.
Fortunately for Anand, his opponent was ultimately unable to find a decisive breakthrough. Even though Kasparov had all the chances, the pawn structure was just too locked and so, in the end, the players were forced to agree to a draw by shuffling their rooks around in the final sequence of the game.
With that, day 2 comes to a close, with Garry emerging with a five-point lead going into tomorrow's 'clutch' day, where each game will be worth three points a piece.
This means that Anand could in theory bounce back pretty quickly. A single win would leave him within striking distance, while if he's able to come out punching in the rapid games and win them back-to-back, that would allow him to overtake the lead heading into game 11.
However, it's safe to say that Vishy Anand is down to more or less his final life in this match. If Kasparov is able to win tomorrow's first rapid game, that would extend his lead to 8 points and force Anand to win three games in a row in order to win the match, something that would be tremendously unlikely given that after two days he is yet to score his first victory.
See you all again tomorrow, for the third and final day of the Clutch Chess: The Legends exhibition match!
Anand needs to strike!
He's down 5 points in the match, with no wins to his name. It's not a full-blown disaster just yet, but whatever happens he absolutely must avoid a third defeat of the day.
With just 5 games to go, it's crucial for Anand to try and bridge that gap as much as possible. Another loss, and Kasparov would be very close to match victory, as he would need to score only 1/4 tomorrow in order to win the series.