Anand settles for 1-1 draw with Gelfand; stands joint 6th

Nice, France, Mar 27 (UNI) With just one round remaining, World Champion Viswanathan Anand stands joint sixth after he settled for a 1-1 draw against Israel's Boris Gelfand of the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament here.

The Indian failed to capitalise on the lead after he had won the blindfold game and allowed Gelfand to equalise the score in the rapid.

Anand's chances of winning the title are now virtually over as Armenia's Levon Aronian is leading the tally after he settled for two draws with Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

The Armenian looks set to win the title this year as he stands 2.5 points ahead of his nearest rivals Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, Peter Leko of Hungary, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Kramnik with 11 points each.

Anand shares the sixth spot with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Alexander Morozevich of Russia who all have 10 points apiece.

In the the rapid round, Aronian is heading the list with an unassailable two-point lead while in the blindfold, Morozevich and Aronian are leading with 5.5 points each.

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