Anand

Linares: World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a quick and easy draw with Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan to extend his lead to a point after the 11th round of the Morelia-Linares chess tournament on Monday.

Anand took his tally to seven points out of a possible 11. He also benefited by the loss suffered by Magnus Carlsen, who was outdone by Peter Leko of Hungary.

Playing the black side of a Caro Kann Defence, Anand had little difficulty in keeping Radjabov’s pieces at bay after the Azerbaijani went for one of the side variations in the opening. As it turned out, the queens were off the board quickly and it took just 18 moves before both players realised that it was not worth carrying on.

With just three rounds to go and two whites to back him, Anand looks set to retain the crown he won last year.

Former world champion Veselin Topalovinched closer to the leader after beating Spaniard Alexei Shirov while Levon Aronian drew with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine.