Anand struggles to draw vs Mamedyarov; Remains joint 2nd at Dortmund

Dortmund, June 30 (UNI) World no.1 Viswanathan Anand survived a difficult game to draw against Azerbaijanian Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov after a marathon 69 moves in the fifth round but was still lucky to remain joint second as all the four games were drwan out affairs.

For the second time in the Sparkassen Super Grandmasters Chess tournament here, all the eight players split points.

Playing with black, the Indian Grandmaster replied with Nf6 to Mamedyarov's d4 opening and after a few moves the game settled for Queens Indian pattern.

Mamedyarov played an aggressive game and kept Anand on his toes throughout the long game. Anand underestimated his 35th move of Bc3 and did not take any corrective measures, not realizing that this move almost took to the brink of his first defeat. But the Chennai Tiger regained his composure in time to save the game. With both the players left with only King and one bishop on the board in the end, there was no other alternative but to agree for a draw.

Speaking to UNI immediately after his drawn game, ''I under estimated my opponents plan of shifting Bishop from e3 to c3 and let it happen without putting up much resistance and after that I really had to work hard for the draw.'' ''Draw is a good result under these circumstances,'' Anand admitted.

However, Anand maintained his second spot with three points, thanks to a drawn game between chart topper Vladimir Kramnik and Evgeny Alekseev.

The Indian chess wizard next plays Russian Alekseev, who shares the joint second spot with him.

The remaining two games played between Magnus Carlsen and Boris Gelfand and Arkadij Naiditsch and Evgeny Alekseev also ended in draws.

Standing after Round 5 : Vladimir Kramnik 3.5 points Viswanathan Anand 3 points Evgeny Alekseev 3 points Peter Leko 2.5 points S Mamedyarov 2.5 points Boris Gelfand 2 points Magnus Carlsen 2 points Arkadij Naiditsch 1.5 points Pairing Round 6 : Viswanathan Anand vs Evgeny Alekseev Vladimir Kramnik vs Arkadij Naiditsch Boris Gelfand vs Peter Leko Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs Magnus Carlsen UNI