Tal Memorial : Anand draws in seventh round

On a dull day at the Tal Memorial in Moscow with all the matches ending in draws, Viswanathan Anand missed out on few good chances to edge out Peter Svidler of Russia in the seventh round of the tenth Tal Memorial International chess tournament.

Anand, who has never lost a classical game to Svidler until now, employed the 'Anti-Marshall' move but got only a minuscule edge over the Russian who showed some signs of buckling under the pressure.

Despite Anand missing out on a superb chance in his 32nd move to gain an advantage over the Russian, Svidler retained active play and made it difficult for Anand to find a chance. Svidler moved his two rooks to the seventh rank after which both players agreed for a draw.

After the seventh round, Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi leads the event with 4.5 points followed by Anish Giri of Holland at second with 4 points. Alongside Russian Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian of Armenia on four points, Anand sits joint third in the standings.

Svidler and Li Chao of China have an identical 3.5 points and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov remained eighth on three points. The last place now looks sealed as Israel's Boris Gelfand has just one point from his seven games. Two more rounds remain to be played in the tournament.

In the penultimate round of the tournament, Anand will take on the leader Nepomniachtchi in an important match, but the Indian wizard will have the handicap of playing with black pieces.