CM

07

Rd2

Gm2

Elista

Bareev -

Leko

Leko won yesterday's game and that put him ahead by a point in this match. Here we have Game 2 with Bareev playing white, and his last move was 15. e4 threatening a fork on e5. Don't get excited because they drew at this point. I am not much into opening theory, and so I will assume that this is a well-know position among top-level players. Nevertheless, I must question Bareev's wisdom for accepting a " grandmaster draw " in a game lined up for the world championship, playing the white pieces, having lost with black the day before, a point behind in the score, holding the bishop pair, posing a threat of a pawn fork, a rook on the c file, and a possible knight hop unto b5. Perhaps, theory has this position as equal, but it sure looks like white has the advantage here. The only reason I can consider for such a draw is that Bareev wanted to get something on the scoreboard.