Kasparov and Karpov Agree to a Draw

Champion Gary Kasparov and challenger Anatoly Karpov agreed to a draw in the 20th game of the world chess championship Monday after 21 moves.

The draw leaves the score tied at 10 each and breaks Kasparov’s three-game losing streak. The next game is Wednesday, with Karpov playing white and having the theoretical advantage of making the first move.

Kasparov, who won the chess title from Karpov in November, was three points ahead of his rival two weeks ago and appeared to have an unbeatable lead, but Karpov fought back, winning three successive matches.

Only four games remain in the 24-game series, and neither player has any timeouts left.

Kasparov has an advantage since he will retain the title if the match ends in a 12-12 tie. A winning player scores a point and a draw gives each player one-half point.

Here are the moves of the game, which employed the Catalan opening:

Kasparov-Karpov 20: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 Bg2 Be7 5 Nf3 0-0 6 0-0 dxc4 7 Qc2 a6 8 Qxc4 b5 9 Qc2 Bb7 10 Bg5 Nbd7 11 Bxf6 Nxf6 12 Nbd2 Rc8 13 Nb3 c5 14 dxc5 Bd5 15 Rfd1 Bxb3 16 Qxb3 Qc7 17 a4 Qxc5 18 axb5 axb5 19 Nd4 b4 20 e3 Rfd8 21 Rd2 Qb6 Drawn