Kramnik wins Dortmund Super Grandmasters, Anand finishes shared 2n

Dortmund, July 2 (UNI) World no.1 Viswanathan Anand played out a quiet draw with young Magnus Carlsen in the seventh and final round to stay content with a shared second place in the Sparkassen Super Grandmasters Chess tournament at Dortmund.

Meanwhile, World champion Vladimir Kramnik continued his love affair with Dortmund Super-GM as he clinched his eighth first place, after securing the necessary half point after a draw against Evgeny Alekseev.

Anand needed to win against Carlsen alongwith Alekseev beating leader Kramnik, to get into a tie for first, which did not happen as all four games ended in draws.

Anand with four points tied for second alongwith Peter Leko and Alekseev, while Kramnik head the table with five points. This year the event was played a single round robin.

The Carlsen-Anand was a very quiet draw. White reached an ending with two bishops, but the symmetrical pawn distribution meant his winning chances were minimal, and Anand held comfortably.

Though all games ended in draws, they still were interesting. As Kramnik drew his Petroff defence game with Alekseev while Leko played a marathon 107-move marathon draw with Shakriyar Mamedyarov.

Kramnik once again placed his faith in the Russian, or Petroff Defence, and held the draw with little difficulty.

Results after Round 7: Alekseev drew with Kramnik; Leko drew with Mamedyarov; Carlsen drew with Anand; Naiditsch drew with Gelfand.

Final standings : Vladimir Kramnik Russia 5 points Evgeny Alekseev Russia 4 points Peter Leko Hungary 4 points Viswanathan Anand India 4 points Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 3.5 points Magnus Carlsen Norway 3 points Boris Gelfand Israel 2.5 points Arkadij Naiditsch Germany 2 points UNI