Anand draws with Ivanchuk, retains tied 2nd spot at Morelia

Morelia, Mexico, Feb 25 (UNI) Viswanathan Anand failed to capitalise on the errors committed by Vassily Ivanchuk as he settled for a quick draw against the Ukrainian GM to retain his joint second position after the sixth round of the Morelia/Linares Super Grandmaster Tournament here.

The Indian now has 3.5 points and shares the second spot with Ivanchuk. The duo is half a point adrift of table topper Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Anand, having earlier lost his fifth round game to Armenian Levon Aronian, had to fight hard against the Ukrainian, who dominated throughout but wasted a promising position in the game played on the Sicilian, Najdorf format.

Anand and Ivanchuk eventually settled for a split of points after 32 moves. The Indian will next take on Hungarian Peter Leko.

The other games also ended in quick draws. While Aronian and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov drew in 22 moves, Carlson and Peter Leko split points after 20 moves.

Russian Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler were the quickes of all as they drew after just 16 move. There is one more round to go in Morelia before action shifts to Linares in Spain.

Round 6: Saturday, February 24th Magnus Carlsen drew with Peter Leko Alex. Morozevich drew with Peter Svidler Levon Aronian drew with Veselin Topalov Vishy Anand drew with Vassily Ivanchuk Round 7: Sunday, February 25th Peter Leko vs Viswanathan Anand Vassily Ivanchuk vs Levon Aronian Veselin Topalov vs Alexander Morozevich Peter Svidler vs Magnus Carlsen Round 6 Standings: 1. Magnus Carlsen 4.0 2. Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand 3.5 4. Peter Svidler, Peter Leko and Vassily Ivanchuk 3.0 7. Veselin Topalov and Alexander Morozevich 2.0 UNI