Viswanathan Anand decided to play safe and went in for two quick draws against Peter Leko in the eighth round of the Melody Amber Blind and Rapid chess tournament.
With the summer time coming into force, the clock went one hour forward and the chess as usual was interesting.
In the seventh round, Anand had lost both his games to Alexander Morozevich. As a result, he slipped down the standings and is now tied for sixth.
Vladimir Kramnik is the sole leader with 11 points, while Peter Leko and Morozevich have 10 points each. Anand has nine points, half a point behind Evegeny Bareev and Vassily Ivanchuk.
The blindfold game between Peter Leko and Anand was an interesting theoretical duel. But both players preferred to remain silent about their assessment of the position. In a Sicilian Paulsen, Anand, with black, played naturally and handled calmly a novelty from Leko. The draw came in 23 moves and the position was equal.
In the rapid game, which was even quicker, it was a Sicilian Rossolimo. It was clear that both Anand and Leko both were content with a draw and not inclined to push for a win. The draw came in 17 moves. The two draws put Leko a point behind sole leader Kramnik, while Anand has a lot of work to do in his remaining three rounds.
Alexander Morozevich continued his marvellous campaign in the blindfold with a dashing win over Paco Vallejo. He won the Caro-Kann advanced in 41 moves and then capped yet another wonderful day with a 69-move in French Tarrasch in rapid for a 2-0 verdict. After scoring a similar result against Anand, Moro suddenly jumped forward in the standings to joint second with Leko.
Both have ten points to 11 for Kramnik, who also a 2-0 win over Loek Van Wely.
Kramnik, with black, beat Loek van Wely in the blindfold in the Sicilian Rossolimo in just 24 moves and then inflicted another defeat in rapid in a 77-move game that had an English opening.
Earlier in the seventh round, Anand suffered a major setback, when he lost both his games to Alexander Morozevich. Anand's main rival, Kramnik, on the other hand scored a 2-0 win over Paco Vallejo to move into the lead.
The Anand-Moro blindfold game was sensational. Anand, with his brilliant attacking, was well on his way to a win in a French defence. But Moro kept hanging on, and was duly rewarded when Anand not only overlooked a winning line but also blundered and lost.
In the second game, Morozevich won again, but in a game where both made some strange moves, and Moro's knight found itself very strong and picked two pieces. That helped Moro win 2-0 and jump up standings.
As the NIIT sponsored Anand lost precious ground, Kramnik and Leko went ahead.
Results of eighth round (Blindfold): Morozevich beat Vallejo; Kramnik beat Van Wely; Leko drew with Anand; Ivanchuk beat Svidler; Shirov drew with Topalov; Gelfand drew Bareev.
Standings Blindfold (after 8 rounds): 1. Morozevich 6.0; 2. Ivanchuk and Kramnik 5.5; 4. Leko and Bareev 5.0; 6. Svidler 4.5; 7. Shirov, Anand and Topalov 3.5; 10. Van Wely 3.0; 11. Gelfand and Vallejo Pons 1.5.
Results of eighth round (Rapid): Vallejo lost to Morozevich; Van Wely lost to Kramnik; Anand drew with Leko; Svidler beat Ivanchuk; Topalov beat Shirov; Bareev drew with Gelfand.
Standings Rapid (after 8 rounds): 1. Anand and Kramnik 5.5; 3. Leko 5.0; 4. Svidler, Topalov and Bareev 4.5; 7. Morozevich and Ivanchuk 4.0; 9. Gelfand, Shirov and Van Wely 3.0; 12. Vallejo Pons 1.5.
Standings Combined (after 8 rounds): 1. Kramnik 11.0; 2. Morozevich and Leko 10.0; 4. Ivanchuk and Bareev 9.5; 6. Anand and Svidler 9.0; 8. Topalov 8.0; 9. Shirov 6.5; 10. Van Wely 6.0; 11. Gelfand 4.5; 12. Vallejo Pons 3.0.
Earlier results:
Results of seventh round: Blindfold: Topalov drew with Gelfand; Bareev drew with Ivanchuk; Svidler drew with Shirov; Van Wely drew with Leko; Anand lost to Morozevich; Vallejo lost to Kramnik.
Results of seventh round: Rapid: Gelfand beat Topalov; Ivanchuk beat Bareev; Shirov drew with Svidler; Leko beat Van Wely; Morozevich beat Anand; Kramnik beat Vallejo.