Viswanathan Anand played a quiet draw with young Magnus Carlsen in the seventh and final round and had to stay content with a shared second place at the Sparkassen Super Grandmasters Chess tournament in Dortmund.
Anand needed to win against Carlsen and also needed Evegeny Alekseev to beat leader Vladimir Kramnik, to get into a tie for first. Neither happened as all four games ended in draws.
Anand with four points finished tied for second with Peter Leko and Alekseev, while Kramnik head the table with five points. This year the event was played a single round robin.
The Carlsen-Anand was also a very quiet draw. White reached an ending with two bishops, but the symmetrical pawn distribution meant his winning chances were minimal, and Anand held comfortably.
Kramnik, who was a doubtful starter on account of flu won the Dortmund title for the eighth time in his career.
Though all games ended in draws, they were interesting enough. As Kramnik drew his Petroff defence game with Alekseev, Peter Leko played a marathon 107-move marathon draw with Shakriyar Mamedyarov.
Kramnik once again placed his faith in the Russian, or Petroff Defence, and held the draw with little difficulty.
Results of Round 7: Alekseev drew with Kramnik; Leko drew with Mamedyarov; Carlsen drew with Anand; Naiditsch drew with Gelfand
Final Round 7 Standings: 1. Kramnik 5.0; 2. Anand, Alekseev and Leko 4.0; 5. Mamedyarov 3.5; 6. Carlsen 3.0; 7. Gelfand 2.5; 8. Naiditsch 2.0
Anand vs Carlsen - (The moves)
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd2 Nbd7 9. a3 Be7 10. Qc2 O-O 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. O-O Rc8 15. Rfd1 Qc7 16. Rac1 Rfd8 17. Be2 Nce4 18. Be1 Nxc3 19. Qxc3 Rxd1 20. Bxd1 Qxc3 21. Rxc3 Rxc3 22. Bxc3 Ne4 23. Be1 g5 24. Kf1 b6 25. Ke2 Bf6 26. Bc2 Nd6 27. b3 Kf8 28. Bd3 Ke7 29. g4 Bb2 30. a4 f6 31. b4 e5 32. f3 Bc1 33. Bc3 Kd8 34. b5 Ba3 35. Bd2 Ke7 36. f4 gxf4 37. exf4 exf4 38. Bxf4 g5 39. Bxd6+ draw