Wijk Aan Zee: World Champion Viswanathan Anand registered his second draw on the trot after he was held by Nigel Short of England to be placed tied fourth at the end of round two in Group 'A' of the Corus
Chess tournament.
Grandmaster Alexei Shirov of Spain emerged as the sole leader after his victory over last year's Group 'B' winner Fabiano Caruana of Italy.
With Shirov in command in Group 'A', Hikaru Nakamura of United States and World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway are now in the joint second spot having 1.5 points apiece.
After his back to back draws, five times winner Anand shares the fourth spot with Russian pair of Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Leinier Dominguez of Cuba, and Dutch duo of Loek Van Wely and Sergei Tiviakov, who all have one point apiece.
It also turned out to be a modest outing for other Indians in Group 'B' and 'C' as well as none could score a victory for the second day running.
Seeded third in Group 'B', Pentala Harikrishna drew with David Howell of England, while Parimarjan Negi also had to split points after he was caught off guard in the Sicilian Paulsen by lone woman player Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 18, 2010, 14:28