Anand still on top after penultimate round

Linares, Mar 10 (UNI) Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand split points with bottom-placed Peter Leko of Hungary, but the Indian retained sole lead after Round 13 of the Morelia-Linares chess tournament here.

With this draw, his eighth in the tournament, Anand has so far collected eight points out of a possible 13 and he is only a draw away from regaining the crown in the 8-player double round robin event which started at Morelia in Mexico last month.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway, with 7.5 points, is hot on Anand's heels after drawing with Russian Peter Svidler.

In other Round 13 games, Morozevich beat Topalov while Levon Aronian drew with Vassily Ivanchuk.

Anand meets Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the final round game.

Round 14 pairings: Peter Leko vs Magnus Carlsen Peter Svidler vs Alexander Morozevich Veselin Topalov vs Levon Aronian Vassily Ivanchuk vs Vishwanathan Anand Standings after Round 13: 1. Anand 8.5; 2. Carlsen 7.5; 3. Svidler 7.0; 4. Aronian 6.5; Morozevich 6.5; 6. Ivanchuk 6.0; 7. Topalov 5.5; 8. Peter Leko 5.0 UNI