Anand draws with Topalov, finishes joint fourth

Viswanathan Anand ended his stint with a draw against former world championship challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the ninth and final round of Shamkir Chess tournament that concluded here Tuesday.

Anand finished the tournament on 4.5 points, a fifty percent score that proved good enough for only joint fourth place.

Reigning World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway stamped his authority on the tournament disposing off Alexander Grischuk of Russia in the final round. The fact that he had won the tournament with a round to spare did not deter Carlsen from playing for a win in the last round too and he ended up victorious.

Carlsen won his fourth title in as many attempts here making Shamkir one of his favourite hunting grounds. The Norwegian scored a massive seven points and is now above 2850 in live ratings.

Sergey Karjakin of Russia tied for the second spot on five points along with Ding Liren of China. Karjakin drew his final round game with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan while Ding Liren quickly signed peace with Anish Giri of Holland.

Anand tied for fourth along with Grischuk and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, a half point ahead of Topalov and David Navara of Czech Republic.

Anand did not get much in the game against Topalov who played black. The opening was an Italian wherein the central breakthrough led to a level position for the Bulgarian. The game ended through repetition of moves.

Results round 9: V Anand (Ind, 4.5) drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul, 4); David Navara (Cze, 4) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 4.5); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3.5) drew with Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 5); Ding Liren (Chn, 5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 3); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 5) beat Alexander Grischuk (Rus, 4.5).