Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the seventh round of the Corus International Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands, on Saturday.
Anand, who had suffered a loss at the hands of World champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, tried hard to overcome tournament leader Radjabov but the latter remained on guard and survived a few anxious moments before signing the peace pact.
The draw ensured Radjabov's sole lead on 5.5 points out of a possible seven while Anand inched to 4.5 points.
Top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria is likely to be Radjabov's nearest contender as he enjoyed a huge advantage in his seventh round game against Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine at the time of going to press.
In the event of a possible victory, Topalov will take his tally to five points for a clear second spot.
Kramnik played it out safe against Levon Aronian of Armenia to remain a half point clear of Anand and a full point behind Radjabov on 4.5 points. Kramnik, with his black pieces, played solidly right till the end of this Slav defence game.
Anand opened with his pet King pawn and faced the Sicilian Sveshnikov from Radjabov. Going for one of the topical variation, the Indian got a slightly better position in the middle game but Radjabov ensured his position did not worsen beyond repairs.
After the trading of all minor pieces the draw was a just result. The game lasted 42 moves.
In the 'C' group being held simultaneously, the world's youngest Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi was trying to salvage a difficult queen and pawns endgame against Swede GM Emanuel Berg.
The results (seventh round):
Group 'A': Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 4) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 5.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2) playing Peter Svidler (Rus, 3); Sergei Tiviakov (Ned, 2.5) drew with Sergey Karjakin (Ukr, 4); Alexei Shirov (Esp, 0.5) playing Alexander Motylev (Rus, 2.5); David Navara (Cze, 3) playing Loek van Wely (Ned, 2.5); Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukr, 3) playing Veselin Topalov (Bul, 4); Levon Aronian (Arm, 4) drew with Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 4.5).
Group 'C': Peng Zhaoqin (Ned, 3.5) playing Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus, 5.5); Emanuel Berg (Swe, 4) playing Parimarjan Negi (Ind, 4); Michal Krasenkow (Pol, 5) beat Thomas Willemze (Ned, 1.5); John van der Wiel (Ned, 1.5 ) playing Nadezhda Kosintseva (Rus, 2); Manuel Bosboom (Ned, 4) beat Stellan Brynell (Swe, 2.5); Harmen Jonkman (Ned, 1.5) lost to Wouter Spoelman (Ned, 3.5); Edwin van Haastert (Ned, 3) drew with Hou Yifan (Chn, 4.5).
