Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand of India played out his third draw on the trot as he signed peace with Etienne Bacrot of France in the third round of Grenke Chess Classic here.
After missing out on what should have been a full point in the previous round against Arkadij Naiditsch of Germany, Anand played it safe with black by going for the Berlin defence and did not have to exert himself with black against Bacrot, who also appeared satisfied with a draw.
Naiditsch, however, went on to record the biggest upset in the tournament by defeating World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in a keenly contested game. The German moved to joint lead along with Fabiano Caruana of Italy, who accounted for an out-of-sorts Levon Aronian of Armenia.
In the next round after the lone rest day, Anand and Carlsen clash for the first time since the last World championship in Sochi. Anand will have the advantage of white pieces.
The results: Round 3: Etienne Bacrot (Fra, 1.5) drew with V. Anand (Ind, 1.5); Levon Aronian (Arm, 1) lost to Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 2); Arkadij Naiditsch (Ger, 2) bt Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1.5); Michael Adams (Eng, 1.5) bt David Baramidze (Ger, 1).
