8th Draw: It’s a Broken Record

World champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Viswanathan Anand set a record Friday with their eighth straight draw in the Professional Chess Assn. world championship in New York. It is the longest series of draws ever at the start of a championship match.

Friday’s game completed the second week of the match, and still neither player has managed to win a game. The score is 4 to 4. To collect the $1-million prize offered by PCA sponsor Intel, a player must score 10.5 points in the best-of-20-game match. The loser will receive $500,000.

Although the players set an ignominious record for drawing, they are far from the all-time championship record for consecutive draws. In the 1984 world championship, Kasparov and former champion Anatoly Karpov drew 17 straight games.

On Friday, both players aimed for a lively game. Playing White, Kasparov switched openings, trying the Scotch Game, an ancient opening that had been nearly forgotten until Kasparov revived it in the 1990 world championship. Then it had surprise value; Friday, Anand was prepared with a provocative new ninth move. Kasparov attempted to refute the idea by giving up a rook for a knight and a pawn. Later he gained a second pawn, but Black held the balance. Ironically, the record-setting draw was one of the fiercest battles of the match.

Anand said, “It’s not the kind of record I wanted to break.”

The match resumes Monday for Game Nine. Here are the moves of Friday’s game:

Kasparov-Anand #8: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxc6 bxc6 6 e5 Qe7 7 Qe2 Nd5 8 c4 Ba6 9 b3 g5 10 Ba3 d6 11 exd6 Qxe2+ 12 Bxe2 Bg7 13 cxd5 Bxe2 14 Kxe2 Bxa1 15 Rc1 0-0-0 16 Rxc6 Rhe8+ 17 Kd3 Rd7 18 Nc3 Bxc3 19 Kxc3 Re5 20 Kc4 Re4+ 21 Kd3 Re5 22 Kc4 Re4+, Drawn

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World Chess Championship

Friday: Draw

Standings: Tied at 4 points apiece in best-of-20 series

Next game: Monday