Commentary on game 13 will be brought to you by GM Neil McDonald, IM Malcolm Pein and FM Chris Duncan

Kasparov often claims that 13 is his lucky number- after all, he was born on the 13th April, he is the thirteenth world champion and the 13th game was usually lucky for him in his World Championship matches with Karpov. Today he certainly needs the magic of 13 to rescue him from his desperate match situation.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6

After a brief outing with the Archangelsk in Game 11, Kramnik returns to the Berlin Defence. Will it prove invincible again?

4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.h3

This diverges from Game 9, in which Kasparov played the more direct 10.Rd1+. I'm surprised that the World Champion is still trying to defeat this opening line: Kramnik seems to handle these heavyweight queenless middlegame positions with great dexterity.

10... Ke8

This may be a small victory for White, as the king moves to the kingside anyway without being provoked by 10.Rd1+. The white rook may prove more useful on f1 than d1 as it supports a later space gaining f2-f4 advance.

11.Ne4

A new move after 35 minutes thought- other ideas are 11.b3 to develop the bishop on b2 or 11.Rd1 any way to get in Nd4. Now the natural response would be 11...Be6 intending 12...Bd5 in some cases. The mystery is why Kasparov thought such a long time if he had prepared it at home.

11... c5

Kramnik asserts control over the d4 square and may intend b7-b6 followed by Bb7, when the light squared bishop is excellently placed- though he would have to watch out for a sudden e5-e6 advance.

12.c3

This regains influence over d4 and threatens to win a pawn with 13.g4 Ne7 14.Nxc5.

12... b6

This counters the threat and prepares to put the bishop on the long diagonal. The next couple of moves are critical- either Kasparov will find a way to break open the centre and gain the advantage or it will be completely equal.

13.Re1

The opposition of the white rook on e1 and black king on e8 is a bit uncomfortable for Kramnik- for example, White has ideas of 14.g4 Ne7 15.Nf6+ gxf6 16.exf6 regaining the piece with advantage. Now Kramnik has to choose between the active 13...Bb7 and the safe 13...Be6.

13... Be6

The Challenger opts for the solid approach. On the other hand the bishop could become a target here- e.g. White could try 14.g4 Ne7 15.Nh2 aiming for f4 and f5.

14.g4

Draw agreed. The World Champion is clearly off form for some reason- no new ideas and no energy. This suggests there will be a sad end to what promised to be a great fighting finish to the match.