World champion Viswanathan Anand took a quick draw and continued to trail after five rounds of the 70th Corus Grandmasters chess tournament, even as women's world No 2 Koneru Humpy also remained winless after five rounds.
NIIT Brand Ambassador Anand, who is going through a sluggish patch playing in the elite Group A, drew with leader Lev Aronian in Anti-Meran Gambit which went into a lot of complications. The game however had chances for either side, but they preferred a half point instead of risking things.
However things were good for some of the other Indians as Pentala Harikrishna and Parimarjan Negi continued their upward surge.
Anand has two points and is 1.5 points behind co-leaders Teimour Radjabov, Lev Aronian and Magnus Carlsen who share the lead with 3.5 points each. Vladimir Kramnik and Judit Polgar are half a point behind.
Hari drew with the hugely talented and in-form Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia and inched his way to the sole second spot with 3.5 points, half a point behind sole leader Etienne Bacrot of France, who beat erstwhile leader Jan Smeets with black pieces in another game.
Humpy, who had lost two earlier rounds, drew with Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia and remained in 13th place with 1.5 points from five rounds.
Fifteen-year-old Negi of Delhi, notched his third win in a row, beating bottom ranked Anna Ushenina of Ukraine and his tally of three points took him to tied fourth place in the company of four others, Dutchmen Friso Nijboer and John Van Der Wiel, Greek Efstratios Grivas and Swede Pontus Carlsson.
In Group B, Hari drew with Movsesian in a 48-move Guico Piano game, while Humpy drew with Sargissian in 59 moves of an Anti-Meran Gambit.
In Group C, Negi, with white pieces, outplayed Ushenina in just 28 moves of a Queen's Gambit Accepted.
Results and standings after Round 5
Group A:
Round 5: Mamedyarov beat Loek van Wely; Eljanov lost to Radjabov; Adams drew with Kramnik; Aronian drew with Anand; Ivanchuk drew with Carlsen; Polgar drew with Leko; Topalov beat Gelfand.
Standings after Round 5: 1. Radjabov, Aronian and Carlsen 3.5 points; 4. Kramnik and Polgar 3 points; 6. Mamedyarov, Adams, Ivanchuk, Leko and van Wely 2.5 points; 11. Topalov and Anand 2 points; 13. Eljanov and Gelfand 1 point.
Group B
Round 5: Daniël Stellwagen drew with Nigel Short; Wouter Spoelman drew with Hou Yifan; Sergei Movsesian drew with P. Harikrishna; Jan Smeets lost to Etienne Bacrot; Ian Nepomniachtchi drew with Michal Krasenkow; Erwin L'Ami beat Ivan Cheparinov 1-0; Koneru Humpy drew with Gabriel Sargissian.
Standings after five rounds: 1. Bacrot 4 points; 2. Harikrishna 3.5 points; 3. Stellwagen, Movsesian, Smeets and L'Ami 3 points; 7. Nepomniachtchi, Cheparinov and Short 2.5 points; 10. Y. Hou, Sargissian and Krasenkow 2 points; 13. Koneru Humpy 1.5 points; 14. W. Spoelman 0.5 point
Group C
Round 5: Friso Nijboer beat Irina Krush; Parimarjan Negi beat Anna Ushenina; Peng Zhaoqin drew with Li Shilong; Mark van der Werf drew with John van der Wiel; Dennis Ruijgrok drew with Arik Braun; Dimitri Reinderman beat Pontus Carlsson; Efstratios Grivas drew with Fabiano Caruana.
Standings after five rounds: 1. Braun 4.5 points; Caruana 4 points; 3. Reinderman 3.5 points ; 4. Nijboer, Negi, Grivas, Carlsson and van der Wiel 3 points; 9. S. Li 2.5 points; 10. van der Werf 2 points; 11. Peng 1.5 points; 12. Krush 1 point; 13. Ushenina and Ruijgrok 0.5 points.
More from rediff