Viswanathan Anand wasted an opportunity to score a victory from a strong position and was again forced to settle for a draw and split the point with Peter Svidler of Russia in the second round of the Morelia/Linares Super Grandmasters' chess tournament in Morelia on Monday.
Anand, who earlier drew his first round game against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, has one point after two rounds.
The Indian occupies joint-third position and is a half point behind table-toppers Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen.
Unlike the first round game when he settled for a quick split of the point, Anand, playing with white, overcame several technical difficulties in the second round game, played on a Ruy Lopez format, to get into an advantageous position.
However, Svidler did not let the Indian capitalise on it and the two eventually agreed for a draw after 47 moves.
Meanwhile, the shock of the day came when Veselin Topalov, a pawn down against Vassily Ivanchuk, committed a blunder and lost the match.
Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian of Armenia played out a draw, while Peter Leko also split the point with Alex Morozevich.
The moves:
V Anand v/s Peter Svidler
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. a4 h6 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. c3 Na5 13. Bc2 c5 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 exd4 16. e5 Nd5 17. Nxd4 Nb4 18. axb5 Nxc2 19. Qxc2 axb5 20. Nxb5 Qb6 21. Nc3 Qc6 22. Nf3 Nc4 23. Rxa8 Bxa8 24. Bf4 Bb4 25. Qb3 Ba5 26. Rc1 Qe6 27. Ne1 Bc6 28. Ne2 Nxe5 29. Qxe6 Rxe6 30. Nd4 Bxe1 31. Rxe1 Nd3 32. Nxe6 Nxe1 33. Nd4 Nd3 34. Bd6 Nxb2 35. f3 Nc4 36. Bb4 h5 37. Kf2 f6 38. Nf5 Ne5 39. Bc3 Kf7 40. Nd6+ Ke7 41. Nf5+ Kf8 42. Ke3 g6 43. Nd6 Ke7 44. Bb4 g5 45. Nc4+ Ke6 46. Nxe5 fxe5 47. Bd2.
Results: Peter Leko drew with Alex Morozevich; Levon Aronian drew with Magnus Carlsen; Vishy Anand drew with Peter Svidler; Vassily Ivanchuk beat Veselin Topalov.
Pairings for Round 3: Veselin Topalov vs Peter Leko; Peter Svidler vs Vassily Ivanchuk; Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand; Alex Morozevich vs Levon Aronian.
Standings after the second round: Vassily Ivanchuk 1.5, Magnus Carlsen 1.5, Levon Aronian 1.0, Peter leko 1.0, Peter Svidler 1.0, Viswanathan Anand 1.0, Veselin Topalov 0.5, Alex Morozevich 0.5.
More from rediff