The Hindu : Sport : Aronian holds Anand; Hari in second spot

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Aronian holds Anand; Hari in second spot

NEW DELHI: An in-form Levon Aronian extended Viswanathan Anand’s wait for a win after forcing a draw in the fifth round of the Corus chess tournament at Wijk ann Zee, near Amsterdam on Thursday.

Anand’s fourth successive draw took his tally to two points. The 20-move peace treaty in Semi Slav kept Aronian in the lead with Magnus Carlsen at 3.5 points, a tally later matched by Teimour Radjabov.

Defending champion Veselin Topalov scored his first victory after Boris Gelfand shockingly blundered away his queen.

Mixed day

For India, it was a mixed day in Group ‘B’ and ‘C’. Joint overnight leader P. Hari Krishna slipped to the second spot following a hard-fought draw while K. Humpy held the 13th position in the 14-player field after her third draw.

In Group ‘C’, youngest challenger Parimarjan Negi completed a hat-trick of victories to share the fourth spot.

The results (fifth round): Group ‘A’: Levon Aronian (Arm, 3.5) drew with Viswnathan Anand (2); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 2.5) bt Loek van Wely (Ned, 2.5); P. Elijanov (Ukr, 1) lost to Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 3.5); Michael Adams (Eng, 2.5) drew with Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 3); Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr, 2.5) drew with Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 3.5); Judit Polgar (Hun, 3) drew with Peter Leko (Hun, 2.5); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 2) bt Boris Gelfand (Isr, 1).

Group ‘B’: Sergei Movsesian (Svk, 3) drew with P. Hari Krishna (3.5); K. Humpy (1.5) drew with Gabriel Sargissian (Arm, 2); Daniel Stellwagen (Ned, 3) drew with Nigel Short (Eng, 2.5); Wouter Spoelman (Ned, 0.5) drew with Hou Yifan (Chn, 2); Jan Smeets (Ned, 3) lost to Etienne Bacrot (Fra, 4); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus, 2.5) drew Michael Krasenkow (Pol, 2); Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 3) bt Ivan Cheparinov (Bul, 2.5).

Group ‘C’: Parimarjan Negi (3) bt Anna Ushenina (Ukr, 0.5); Dennis Ruijgrok (Ned, 0.5) drew with Arik Braun (Ger, 4.5); Dmitri Reinderman (Ned, 3.5) bt Pontus Carlsson (Swe, 3); Efstratios Grivas (Gre, 3) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 4); Friso Nijboer (Ned, 3) bt Irina Krush (USA, 1); Peng Zhaoqin (Ned, 1.5) drew with Li Shaoling (Chn, 2.5); Mark van der Werf (Ned, 2) drew with John van der Wiel (Ned, 3).

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