Anand draws again, joint third after Rd 2 at Morelia

Morelia, Mexico, Feb 19 (UNI) Viswanathan Anand wasted an opportunity to register a win from a strong position as he once again settled for a draw, splitting points with Russian Peter Svidler in the second round of the Morelia/Linares Super GM tournament here.

Anand, who earlier drew his first round game against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, had to be satisfied with another draw, which took his tally to one point.

The Indian occupies joint third position and is half-a-point behind table-toppers Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen.

Unlike the first round game when he settled for a quick split of points, Anand -- playing with white -- overcame several technical difficulities in the second round game played on a Ruy Lopez format to be in a advantageous position.

However, Svidler did not let the Indian capitalise and the two players eventually agreed for a draw after 47 moves.

Meanwhile, the shock of the day came when Veselin Topalov, a pawn down against Vassily Ivanchuk, committed a blunder to lose the match.

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian of Armenia played out a draw, while Peter Leko also split points with Alex Morozevich.

Results: Peter Leko drew with Alex Morozevich Levon Aronian drew with Magnus Carlsen Vishy Anand drew with Peter Svidler Vassily Ivanchuk beat Veselin Topalov Pairings for Rd 3: Veselin Topalov vs Peter Leko Peter Svidler vs Vassily Ivanchuk Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand Alex Morozevich vs Levon Aronian Standings after Rd 2: Vassily Ivanchuk 1.5 Magnus Carlsen 1.5 Levon Aronian 1.0 Peter leko 1.0 Peter Svidler 1.0 Viswanathan Anand 1.0 Veselin Topalov 0.5 Alex Morozevich 0.5 UNI