Three share lead, Anand engages in marathon draw

Reigning world rapid champion Viswanathan Anand was engaged in a 145-move marathon draw on a day three players, including Pentala Harikrishna, shared the lead after round three of the Tata Steel Chess India 2018 here Friday.

World number three Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, current World Cup winner Levon Aronian and India number two Harikrishna shared the lead with two points apiece.

Four players including reigning world rapid champion Vishwanathan Anand follow the pack of leaders with 1.5 points.

The 10 participants play a single round robin (all play all) Rapid Tournament on first three days followed by a double round robin Blitz tournament on November 13 and 14 and the winner of the USD 40,000 tournament will be decided on cumulative points.

The five-time former world champion, who is playing his first tournament in India in five years, drew all his three rounds including a 145-move draw against Wesley So of USA in round one.

Terming it most interesting, Anand said: "I think there are days when I have not played 145 moves so to do it in one game was nice. And I was clearly lost at one point. I was relieved when he did not find that."
"I was short on time so I had to be careful because he is always tricky and it's not easy. But it was smooth after I won the pawn."
Results (after round three):