Anand holds Karjakin

Viswanathan Anand proved equal to the challenge posed by Russia’s Sergey Karjakin as all five games in Round Three ended in draw on Thursday.

Anand, played wisely, and returned the extra pawns material in time.

Viswanathan Anand proved equal to the challenge posed by Russia’s Sergey Karjakin as all five games in Round Three ended in draw here on Thursday.

This Ruy Lopez game, where Karjakin sacrificed two pawns early, saw the same position after 15 moves as seen in last year's clash between Dmitry Andreikin and Dmitry Jakovenko. Karjakin deviated on the 16th move and kept alive his chances to attack. Anand, played wisely, and returned the extra pawns material in time.

A series of exchanges led to a position where both players had a rook and two connected king-side pawns each after 33 moves. At this stage, draw was agreed.

Draws on all boards meant Vladmir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura continued to lead with two points, followed by six players on 1.5 points.

After a day of rest, action will resume on Sunday when Anand plays black against Anish Giri.

The results:

Third round: Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 1.5) drew with Viswanathan Anand (1); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1.5) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2) drew with Wesley So (USA, 1.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 1.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 1.5); Levon Aronian (Arm, 1.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 1).