Viswanathan Anand was in joint second position after the 12th round of the World rapid chess championship here on Thursday.
With three rounds remaining, he was one of the four players on 8.5 points, half-a-point behind the leader Magnus Carlsen of Norway.
P. Harikrishna was the best-placed among other Indians, with 7.5 points.
B. Adhiban was on seven points, Vidit Gujarathi and Surya Shekhar Ganguly on six and S.P. Sethuraman on five points.
In the women’s event, D. Harika was second with 8.5 points.
Ju in sole lead
China’s Ju Wenjun, who was held to a draw by Harika, was in sole lead with 9.5 points.
Padmini Rout has 7.5 points, while S. Vijayalakshmi and Eesha Karvade had seven apiece.
The standings (after 12 rounds):
1. Magnus Carlsen (Nor) 9; 2-5. Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus), Viswanthan Anand (Ind), Peter Svidler (Rus) and Wang Hao (Chn) 8.5; 6-16. Bu Xiangzhi (Chn), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus), Alexander Grischuk (Rus), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze), Yu Yangyi (Chn), Aleksandr Rakhmanov (Rus), Vladimir Onischuk (Ukr), Ding Liren (Chn), Vladislav Atremiev (Rus), Eltaj Safarli (Aze) and Rauf Mamedov (Aze) 8.
Women: 1. Ju Wenjun (Chn) 9.5; 2-7. Lei Tingjie (Chn), Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus), D. Harika (Ind), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus), Elina Danielian (Arm) and Ekaterina Atalik (Tur) 8.5; 8-11. Bela Khotenashvili (Geo), Elilsabeth Paehtz (Ger), Polina Shuvalova (Rus) and Huang Qiang (Chn) 8.
