Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand play out scintillating draw

The fourth game of the World Chess Championship match ended in a draw after a hard-fought battle of 47 moves. In the opening Viswanathan Anand, playing Black, challenged World Champion Magnus Carlsen with Sicilian Defence, an opening famous for fireworks.

Carlsen, true to his style, chose a rarely-played variation to charter the game into calm waters. He saddled Anand with an isolated pawn, which is considered a positional weakness in chess. However, Anand compensated for this weakness with his characteristic active play.

Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand

Both players exchanged pieces at regular intervals and ended up having only Kings, Queens and Pawns on the chess board. Carlsen tried hard to trick Anand with his usual grinding moves, but the Indian maestro was up to the mark and played out a correct defence to draw the game. Both have two points each.

Anand should be pleased with the outcome as he had Black pieces in the game.

With four games played in the match so far, both players have stuck to their own styles. It is surprising to see the younger of the two - 23-year-old Carlsen - adopting a calm, waiting approach in every game whereas 45-year-old Anand is often showing willingness for a sharp theoretical battle.

Today's game was a typical World Chess title game where players are normally locked in a prolonged battle which end up in peace. It happens because at such a high level, there is very little difference in the level and understanding of both the players. Players are not willing to go all out by taking risks as the stakes are very high. After today's rest day,

Game 5 begins on Friday and whatever maybe the result, chess lovers are surely in for another treat.

The author, a former India women's chess champion, is the youngest Padma Shri awardee at 16