Tuesday, October 3 2006 16:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Elista(Russia): Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov played to a draw today after Kramnik agreed to resume the chess unification match at a score of 3-2 in his favour.

"I came to the conclusion of proceeding under protest because I do not want to disappoint the overwhelming majority of chess fans, which have been hoping for the unfication for so many years," Kramnik said in a statement before starting game six.

"I declare that I am ready to proceed playing the match by reserving all my rights. My further participation will be subject to the condition to clarify my rights regarding game five at a later stage," he said.

The future of the match had been in question since Friday, when Kramiik boycotted game five, angered by an appeals committee decision to lock the private bathooms for both players and insist that each use a common bathroom for the rest of the match - a tacit accusation that Kramnik, a Russian, was using bathroom breaks to cheat.

Kramnik, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, insisted he needed more space to walk while in the rest and rejuvenation room, and accused the appeals committee of acting in the Bulgarian Topalov's favour.

After numerous rounds of talks, the entire committee resigned yesterday and an agreement was reached that the rest rooms would be assigned to each player on a permanent basis and would be inspected by the opposite side ahead of each game.