Anand, Karjakin share lead at Candidates

After beating Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov on the opening day, Anand drew with Levon Aronian in the second round, with black pieces.

Anand in action against Levon Aronian in the second round.

Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin shared the lead at the end of the second round of the World Candidates chess tournament in Moscow on Saturday.

With another 12 rounds left, they are on 1.5 points each. After beating Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov on the opening day, Anand drew with Levon Aronian in the second round, with black pieces.

If Anand was the lone winner on Friday, that honour went to Karjakin on Saturday, as he defeated Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, one of the favourites. Russias’ Peter Svidler shared the point with Topalov, while American Fabiano Caruana signed peace with Anish Giri of the Netherlands.

Aronian, Svidler, Caruana and Giri have one point each, while Topalov and Nakamura have 0.5 point apiece.

The results (second round): Sergey Karjakin (Rus) 1.5 bt Hikaru Nakamura (US) 0.5; Levon Aronian (Arm) 1 drew with Viswanathan Anand (Ind) 1.5; Peter Svidler (Rus) 1 drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul) 0.5; Fabiano Caruana (US) 1 drew with Anish Giri (Ned) 1.