LINARES, MARCH 8:Viswanathan hoping to avenge his earlier defeat at the hands of Lev Aronian had to be content with a draw, which however still gave him sole lead with two more rounds to go in the Morelia-Linares Super Grandmasters chess tournament. Anand, whose only loss in the tournament so far has been against Aronian split the point after just 23 moves in a short game.

Anand has 7.5 points and is half a point ahead of Magnus Carlsen (7). Peter Svidler, who finally got a win after 11 draws is third with 6.5 points. Aronian is fourth with six points.

Anand with white avoided the Marshall as the game opened in a Ruy Lopez. The game for a while seemed to follow an Anand-Kasimdhzannov clash in Leon in 2005, which Anand won. Anand was trying to create passed pawns. Aronian’s option was capture control of the a-file, but Aronian also had doubled pawns on e-file. Anand could have created a fractured pawn structure for Aronian and then attack the king, but Aronian was alive to this and ensured nothing of the sort happened.

Anand seemed to be happy and agreed for the draw, which keeps him in lead and in remaining two games, he has white in one against Leko, who has been having a miserable tournament.

It was a good day for blacks, as Peter Svidler defeated Leko for his first win in this tournament. Then Alexander Morozevich, also with black, beat Vassily Ivanchuk to join him in a tie for sixth. Leko brings up the rear in the eight-man event.

Thursday will be a rest day and the last two rounds will be played Friday and Saurday.

Pairings for Round 13:

Anand v Leko, Aronian v Ivanchuk; Morozevich v Topalov; Carlsen v Svidler

Results of Round 12:

Anand drew with Aronian; Topalov drew with Carlsen; Ivanchuk lost to Morozevich; Leko lost to Svidler

Standings after Round 12: 1. Anand 7.5; 2. Carlsen 7.0; 3. Svidler 6.5; 4. Aronian 6.0; 5. Topalov, Ivanchuk and Morozevich 5.5; 8. Leko 4.5