Date:06/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/06/stories/2008090659831900.htm

Sport - Chess

Anand held again

NEW DELHI: Viswanathan Anand’s search for a win in the Grand Slam chess final continued after drawing with Armenia’s Levon Aronian in the third round at Bilbao, Spain, on Thursday.

Anand, playing black, agreed to draw in 42 moves with only rook and pawns on the board.

The top seed now shares the third spot with three others in the six-player double round-robin event.

In the only decisive game of the day, former World champion Veselin Topalov defeated overnight leader Norway’s Magnus Carlsen to snatch the lead.

Topalov punished his young rival for an early mistake and consolidated his grip on the game to win in 37 moves.

The results (third round): Levon Aronian (Arm, 2) drew with Viswanathan Anand (3); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 4) lost to Veselin Topalov (Bul, 5); Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 3) drew with Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 3).