JOIN USWorld champion Viswanathan Anand survived anxious moments before he salvaged a draw against Luke McShane of England in the second round of the London Chess Classic here today.
Having started with a bye, Anand had the advantage of playing white in the opener but the Indian ace could not find any real advantage and finally survived by the skin of the teeth to open his account.
World number one, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen registered himself as the highest rated player ever in the history defeating second seed Levon Aronian of Armenia in a finely crafted game.
The victory took Magnus to 2856 points in live ratings and he just now needs to maintain the tempo to become the highest rated player ever in the history of the game on January 1.
Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia made sure that Carlsen did not get a runaway lead in just two rounds and grinded Hikaru Nakamura of United States in a long drawn queen and pawns endgame.
The other game between Judit Polgar of Hungary and Gawain Jones of England ended in an exciting draw.
With eight rounds still to go in the nine-player round-robin tournament, Carlsen and Kramnik surged ahead with six points apiece in the soccer-like scoring system that gives three points for a win and one for a draw.
In the first round Carlsen had beaten London-nemesis McShane, while Kramnik got a head-start at the expense of Polgar.
Nakamura and Michael Adams of England share the third spot with three points apiece and the latter has an extra game in hand as he had a bye in the second round.
Anand, with an extra game in hand like Adams, is now on joint fifth spot in the rankings along with Polgar, Jones and McShane, while Aronian finds himself at the bottom of the table as he is yet to open his account.
The four victories mean that there are as many as four leaders with three points apiece under the soccer-like scoring system in place here that gives three points for a win and one for a draw.
With Anand remaining in the saddle in the opener, the world champion would like to catch up with the leaders when he takes on McShane in the second round.
Carlsen started with the in-vogue Berlin defense and McShane went for a symmetrical set up that gave him a miniscule advantage when the middle game arrived.
Not the one to shy away from complexities, Carlsen created chances for himself in the queen and minor piece endgame after coming back from the jaws of defeat and avenged a loss at the hands of McShane in 2010 at the same venue.
While Carlsen hogged the limelight, Kramnik punished Polgar for unwarranted complications out of an English opening with white.
Polgar gave a pieces in the middle game trying to find counter active measures but the postmortem revealed that Kramnik was always in control.
Nakamura was the biggest winner of the day as he could force his way against Aronian after getting a good position out of an English opening with black. Nakamura handled the fine prints in exemplary fashion.
The last game of the day was an all British affair between Jones and Adams in which the latter romped home, thanks to some overambitious play by debutant Jones.
The Queen and minor piece endgame should have been a draw but Jones tried to create chances for himself with a pawn sacrifice that boomeranged. The longest game of the day lasted 91 moves.
Results round 1: Luke McShane (ENG) lost to Magnus Carlsen (NOR); Levon Aronian (ARM) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA); Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) beat Judit Polgar (HUN); Gawain Jones (ENG) lost to Michael Adams (ENG).