21st Chess Game Drawn; Kasparov, Karpov Still Tied

World chess champion Gary Kasparov improved his chances of retaining his title Thursday by holding challenger Anatoly Karpov to a draw in Game 21 of the title series.

The two Soviet players agreed to a draw after Kasparov, playing with the disadvantage of black, made his 45th move.

The result left the two players tied at 10 1/2 points each in the 24-game series. A win scores one point and a draw half a point.

Kasparov needs only a 12-12 tie to retain the title, which he won from Karpov last November.

The champion has the advantage of playing white in two of the remaining three games.

Experts forecast a draw in Game 21 after it was adjourned after five hours of play Wednesday night.

Karpov had a slight advantage but, with only a bishop, a knight and five pawns for each player, he had too few pieces for victory.

Karpov’s best chance of taking the title from Kasparov will be in Game 23, when he next has the white pieces.

Here are the moves:

Karpov-Kasparov 21: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 b3 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Be7 7 Bg2 o-o 8 o-o d5 9 Ne5 c6 10 Bc3 Nfd7 11 Nxd7 Nxd7 12 Nd2 Rc8 13 e4 dxc4 14 bxc4 b5 15 Re1 bxc4 16 Qc2 Qc7 17 Nf1 e5 18 Ne3 exd4 19 Bxd4 Bc5 20 Bxc5 Nxc5 21 Nxc4 Rfd8 22 Rad1 Rxd1 23 Rxd1 Rd8 24 Rxd8+ Qxd8 25 h4 Qd4 26 Qb2 Qxb2 27 Nxb2 f6 28 f3 Kf7 29 Bf1 Bb5 30 Kf2 Ke6 31 Bc4+ Kd6 32 Ke3 Nd7 33 f4 Nb6 34 Bg8 h6 35 Nd3 Nd7 36 Kd4 c5+ 37 Kc3 Bc6 38 Nf2 Nb6 39 Bb3 Na8 40 Kd3 Nb6 41 Bc2 Bb5+ (sealed) 42 Kc3 Na4+ 43 Kd2 c4 44 e5+ fxe5 45 Ne4+ Ke6 Draw agreed.