A win still eluded world champion Viswanathan Anand as he settled for yet another draw against Dutch Sergei Tiviakov in the 'A' group, but Parimarjan Negi outwitted Dutchman Dmitri Reinderman in the ninth round of the 'B' group that concluded here.
Even as he tried hard, Anand could not break the ice against Tiviakov who played the white side of a Sicilian Alapin. While black got a semblance of an advantage, Tiviakov remained on course for a draw with time exchanges, and when Anand built up pressure, he sacrificed a rook for a bishop to get a balanced position. The peace was signed after 63 moves.
Anand inched to 4.5 points, and this was his ninth draw in a row. In live rating list, the Indian ace has slipped to fifth spot now, losing a little over eight points so far from the tournament.
Russian Vladimir Kramnik played what he described as the 'best game of my career' to beat Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and joined Spaniard Alexei Shirov in lead on 6.5 points. The leading duo is a full point ahead of Carlsen and defending champion Sergey Karjakin, a former Ukrainian who is now playing under the Russian flag.
Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Hikaru Nakamura of United States and Leinier Dominguez of Cuba share the fifth spot on five points while Anand is joint ninth along with Peter Leko of Hungary.
