Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by tailender Peter Leko of Hungary, but still remained in sole lead after the end of the 13th round of the Morelia-Linares chess tournament in Linares.
The draw, his eighth in the event so far, took Anand to 8 points out of a possible 13 and now the Indian ace is only a draw away from regaining the crown in this category-20 event, which is the strongest tournament of the year.
Half-a-point behind, 16-year old Magnus Carlsen of Norway remained within striking distance of Anand after drawing with Russian Peter Svidler. But the fact that the youngest participant in the event will have black against Leko in the final game makes Anand a huge favourite for the crown in this eight-player double round robin event, which started at Morelia in Mexico in mid-February.
For the records, Anand meets Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the final round game.
The penultimate round was in fact devoid of much excitement and all but one game ended in draw. The lone attraction was a long drawn affair between Alexander Morozevich of Russia and top seed Veselin Topalov that lasted over six hours with the former coming out triumphs from a nearly drawn endgame.
As a result of drawn games at the top, Svidler continued to hold the sole third spot on 7 points. A half point adrift are Levon Aronian of Armenia and Morozevich on 6.5 while Ivanchuk is in sixth position on 6 points. Topalov is now seventh on 5.5 points and with just one round to go, Leko is at the bottom of the table having just 5 points in his bag.
Anand expectedly did not take many chances against Leko in another Anti-Marshal of the event and the Hungarian was also quick to neutralise white's initiative from the black side of this quite popular opening these days. Quick exchanges in the middle game saw the queens being traded along with a couple of minor pieces and the peace was signed in just 26 moves.
Carlsen did not get much with his white pieces either against Svidler. Starting with the queen pawn, Carlsen avoided main variations and found Svidler quite well armed. The Norwegian even parted with his queen for two black rooks but the activity of Svidler's pieces compensated for it and the players repeated the position to sign peace after 29 moves.
It turned out to be a forgettable day for Topalov as he blundered away what was a clearly drawn endgame against Morozevich who registered his third victory here to reach the 50 per cent mark.
Morozevich was only too pleased to pocket the full point after 80 moves.
The other game of the day between Aronian and Ivanchuk was also fought hard from a Queen's Indian defense but after complications subsided the players found themselves in a rook and minor piece endgame where the peace was signed after 39 moves.
The Indian star last won in Linares in 1998 and a win here could even see Anand becoming the world number one for the first time ever on the FIDE ratings charts. Current number one, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, is expected to lose points here.
Anand's domination here has been undisputed with four victories, a lone loss against Armenian Levon Aronian and remaining draws so far.
Anand's best effort in the event came in round 10 when he demolished joint leader Carlsen in what will be a 'case study' in the modern chess history.
Results of Round 13: Anand drew with Leko; Carlsen drew with Svidler; Aronian drew with Ivanchuk; Morozevich beat Topalov
Standings after Round 13: 1. Anand 8.0; 2. Carlsen 7.5; 3. Svidler 7.0; 4. Aronian and Morozevich 6.5; 6. Ivanchuk 6.0; 7. Topalov 5.5; 8. Leko 5.0.
The moves (V Anand v/s Peter Leko): 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. Nc3 h6 11. Nd5 Na5 12. Nxe7+ Qxe7 13. Nh4 Nxb3 14. Nf5 Qe6 15. axb3 d5 16. Qf3 dxe4 17. dxe4 Kh7 18. Qg3 Rg8 19. f3 Ne8 20. Bd2 Nd6 21. Ne3 Bxe4 22. Bc3 Bg6 23. Qxe5 Qxe5 24. Bxe5 Rgd8 25. g4 f6 26. Bg3 draw agreed.