Moscow: World champion Viswanathan Anand
settled for a draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel at the
eighth and penultimate round to remain at joint second in the
Tal Memorial chess tournament here.
With five points out of a possible eight, Anand shares
second spot with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, while Vladimir
Kramnik of Russia is the sole leader with 5.5 points.
Anand will take on Levon Aronian of Armenia in the final
round.
Playing with black pieces, Anand was quite happy to split
the point after 28 moves.
Gelfand was slightly in a better position based on more
space and better minor pieces but after the pawn break on
Anand's move, play quickly leveled off and both the parties
signed truce.
Also, Gelfand did not want to take unnecessary chances
after his loss in the seventh round.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, November 14, 2009, 21:02