World champion Viswanathan Anand drew with World Cup winner Vassily Ivanchuk for his sixth draw in as many rounds of the Tal Memorial chess tournament in Moscow on Tuesday.
For the third successive round, all five boards ended in draws and left the standings unchanged with Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and Ian Nepomniachtchi sharing the lead at 3.5 points. Anand, with three points, shares the fourth place with Ivanchuk and Peter Svidler.
In the Lasker's Defence variation of Queen's Gambit, Anand had no trouble in forcing a 36-move draw with black pieces. The periodic exchange of pieces kept the position in balance and neither player could gain any advantage. Eventually, the draw was agreed when the players were left with a knight and six pawns each.
Carlsen and Svidler were engaged in an exciting battle which saw the former hold a promising position but could not convert it into a victory. Eventually, Svidler had an extra pawn when the draw was agreed in 53 moves.
The results (sixth round): Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 3) drew with Viswanathan Anand (3); Levon Aronian (Arm, 3.5) drew with Boris Gelfand (Isr, 2); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus, 3.5) drew with Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 3.5) drew with Peter Svidler (Rus, 3); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2.5) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2.5).
