Viswanathan Anand could do little against the solid play of Briton Michael Adams and had to settle for a draw in the seventh round of the 22nd Linares Super Grandmasters' chess tournament on Wednesday.
The world's top-rated player Garry Kasparov of Russia maintained a half a point lead with an easy draw against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in his eighth round game.
The other game of the day was a quick draw as well -- lasting just 13 moves -- between tail-ender Francisco Pons Vallejo of Spain and Hungarian Peter Leko.
As things stand now, Kasparov, with four points in his kitty from six games, is atop the table at the halfway stage in this Euro 2,97,000 prize-money tournament, being played on a double round-robin basis.
As the statistics remained unchanged following the first all-drawn-games at Linares this year, both Anand and Bulgarian Veselin Topalov continue to follow the leader half a point behind with 3.5 points apiece in their kitty.
With seven rounds or six games still to come for each participant, Hungarian Peter Leko remain in close proximity of Anand and Topalov with three points in his bag along with FIDE World champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan.
Adams is not too far behind on 2.5 points while there is little hope left for local star Vallejo, who is tottering at just 1.5 points from his six games.
For once in the event this year, the players looked relaxed. First to sign peace was Vallejo who has apparently not got over his blues as yet. Playing white against Leko, the Spanish signed peace in 13 moves, leaving little room for his illustrious opponent.
The next game to end was between Kasparov and Topalov and there was enough indication for the hopefuls here that Kasparov was content enjoying his leader status. It was a Ruy Lopez wherein the Russian got little playing white and signed peace in just 21 moves.
Anand's game against Adams did not demand much from the Indian ace. Playing black, Anand only had to play correct moves in the middle game to maintain the balance after Adams decided to play it safe in the Sicilian Nazdorf opening. The game lasted only 28 moves.
Results: Garry Kasparov (Rus, 4/6) drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul, 3.5/6); Michael Adams (Eng, 2.5/6) drew with Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 3.5/6); Francisco Pons Vallejo (Esp, 1.5/6) drew with Peter Leko (Hun, 3/6); Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzb, 3/6) had a bye.
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