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Leko on threshold of biggest career win

En Passant

A fifth draw in six games has left India's Vishwanathan Anand with only a theoretical chance of getting to the coveted top spot in the 27th Dortmund Chess Days tournament.

In the sixth and penultimate round of the Category 19 tournament, Sokolov (2650) , rated more than 130 elo points behind the World No 2. Anand (2781) held out for a draw.

This despite the Indian having the advantage from a game emerging out of the Petroff defence played by black, Sokolov.

With just one round to go, Peter Leko, the 19-year-old Hungarian is on the threshold of what will easily be his finest title win.

With three wins over Topalov (with black) and over Adams and Timman (with white), Leko has 4.5 points. Only a defeat against the lowly-rated Sokolov coupled with at least a draw from Kramnik against Anand or a win by Anand over Kramnik and/or a win by Karpov against Timman will see Leko share the title.

The only way Leko can finish lower than first is if he loses to Sokolov and Kramnik beats Anand.

In the seventh and final round, Kramnik and Anand clash in the battle of top seeds, while Leko has black against Sokolov.

The other two clashes see Karpov pitted against Timman and Topalov taking on Adams.

Results of the sixth round: Timman beat Topalov; Adams drew with Kramnik; Anand drew with Sokolov; Leko drew with Karpov.

Seventh round pairings: Karpov - Timman; Sokolov - Leko; Kramnik - Anand; Topalov - Adams.

Points after six rounds: 1. Leko 4.5, 2. Kramnik 4, 3. Karpow 3.5, 3. Anand 3.5, 5. Adams 3, 6. Topalov 2, 6. Sokolov 2, 8. Timman 1.5.

Anand's sixth round game:
Anand vs Sokolov
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nfxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. cxd5 Nxd3 10. Qxd3 Qxd5 11.Re1 Bf5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nc3 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 f6 15. Qxc7 0-0 16. Rxe7 Qxf3 17. Rxg7+ Kh8 18. Bh6 Qxg4+ 19. Qg3 Qxd4 20. Rxg6 hxg6 21. Qh3 Kg8 22. Bxf8 Rxf8 23. Qb3+ Rf7 24. Rd1 Qg4+ 25. Kf1 Kg7 26. h3 Qe4 27. Qd5 Qc2 28. Rd2 Qc1+ 29. Kg2 Re7 30. Qd8 Qc6+ 31. Qd5 Qxd5+ 0.5-0.5