Defending champion Viswanathan Anand ensured there were no hiccups against Evgeny Bareev as he drew both games and continued to lead the field in the 13th Melody Amber Blind and Rapid chess tournament in Monaco.
Anand now has 6.5 points, the same as Vladmir Kramnik, who also drew both his games with Alexei Shirov.
However the third joint leader after four rounds, Peter Leko, suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat at the hands of Vassily Ivanchuk and slipped down the ladder.
The sixth round will see the top guns clash, as Anand has white in rapid and Kramnik has white in blindfold.
In the blindfold, Anand and Bareev played the French Defence in quite the same manner as they had in Wijk Aan Zee, where there was a splendid victory for Anand. This time Bareev remained on guard and reached an easy draw, though at one point things had looked dangerous. But it all ended in a peace treaty after 25 moves from the Rubinstein variation of French defence.
The rapid game was more entertaining. Bareev tried to confuse Anand with his opening in English Symmetrical, but to no avail. The Indian Grandmaster countered freely and even seemed to get the better play. Thanks to his bishop pair and attacking possibilities on the kingside, White kept enough counter-chances. Immediately after the game, the players agreed that they had not found any clear advantage for either side and concluded that this second draw was another just result. The game lasted 55 moves.
Vladimir Kramnik and Alexey Shirov also drew both games. In the blindfold game it looked as if White (Kramnik) got a big initiative with all of his pieces attacking, but with precise and active play Black managed to maintain the balance and draw after 30 moves from a Ruy Lopez. The rapid game was not too impressive from a spectator's perspective. It was a 40-move draw from a Sicilian Rossolimo.
Alexander Morozevich first handed Boris Gelfand his eighth defeat in nine games, but then in rapid, he lost to give Gelfand his first win in ten games from five rounds.
Ivanchuk outplayed Leko in both games and rose to joint third spot. The blindfold win came in 40 Sicilian Sveshnikov and the rapid win came in 30 moves of Pirc Defence.
So Ivanchuk joined Bareev, half a point behind the front-runners, Anand and Kramnik.
Results of the fifth rounds (Blind): Anand drew with Bareev; Svidler drew with Van Wely; Topalov drew with Vallejo; Kramnik drew with Shirov; Gelfand lost to Morozevich; Ivanchuk beat Leko.
Results of the fifth round (Rapid): Bareev drew with Anand; Van Wely drew with Svidler; Vallejo drew with Topalov; Shirov drew with Kramnik; Morozevich lost to Gelfand; Leko lost to Ivanchuk.
Round 5 Blindfold Standings: 1. Svidler, Morozevich 3.5; 3. Leko, Kramnik, Bareev and Ivanchuk 3.0; 7. Topalov, Anand and Shirov 2.5; 10. Van Wely 2.0; 11. Vallejo Pons 1.5; 12. Gelfand 0.
Round 5 Rapid Standings: 1. Anand 4.0; 2. Kramnik 3.5; 3. Bareev and Ivanchuk 3.0; 5. Leko, Topalov and Shirov 2.5; 8. Morozevich, Svidler and Van Wely 2.0; 11. Vallejo Pons and Gelfand 1.5.
Round 5 Combined Standings: 1. Anand and Kramnik 6.5; 3. Bareev and Ivanchuk 6.0; 5. Svidler, Morozevich and Leko 5.5; 8. Topalov and Shirov 5.0; 10. Van Wely 4.0; 11. Vallejo Pons 3.0; 12. Gelfand 1.5.
Pairings for sixth round: Leko-Vallejo; Morozevich-Van Wely; Kramnik-Anand; Gelfand-Svidler; Ivanchuk-Topalov; Shirov-Bareev.
