Anand consolidates position

Defending champion Viswanthan Anand maintained his lead with an easy draw against Grandmaster Michael Adams of England in the 10th round of the Corus Chess tournament on Thursday.

Also Read Anand well-placed to retain Corus crown

Following the draw, Anand (7 points) consolidated his position atop the table and is a full point ahead of nearest rivals Adams and Grandmaster Peter Leko of Hungary, who both have six points each .

With no one in sight of joining them, Anand took another step towards a clear victory in the tournament.

Top seed and Braingames champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia was held to a draw by veteran Jan Timman in another Queen's Indian defence game.

Kramnik could not get the game diverted to complexities as Timman played solidly. The draw was agreed to vide repetition on move 32.

At the time of going to press, the remaining three games in this category-19 tournament were still in progress.

Results round 10: Michael Adams (6, Eng) drew Viswanthan Anand (7, Ind); Jan Timman (4, Ned) drew Vladimir Kramnik (5.5, Rus); Loek Van Wely (5, Ned) lost to Viktor Bologan (5, Mda); Peter Leko (6, Hun) drew Alexei Shirov (5, Esp); Vladimir Akopian (4, Arm) playing Peter Svidler (5, Rus); Ivan Sokolov (3, Ned) playing Zhang Zhong (3.5, Chn); Veselin Topalov (5, Bul) playing Evgeny Bareev (3, Rus).