Anand keeps lead after tense battle

With the third and fourth games ending in a draw, the Indian ace retained his full-point lead over Leko, taking the scoreline to 2.5-1.5 with four games remaining in the eight-game match.

Unlike the opening day when Leko faltered in both games, the Hungarian was calmer as he first ensured an easy draw with black and then pushed Anand to the wall, the latter surviving only thanks to some very precise defence.

The third game was a tame affair in which Anand played white. Leko chose the solid Semi-Slav defence. Anand produced a novelty on move 20 but that turned out to be harmless as Leko targeted the white king to ensure his counter play.

The queens got traded on move 22 and thereafter the result of the game was never in any doubt. Peace was signed in just 28 moves.

In the fourth game, Anand employed the Grunfeld defence and this time Leko pressed for an advantage right from the word go. Anand sacrificed a pawn early to get active piece play for his pieces but his new idea on move 15th did not turn out to be so good as Leko grabbed the initiative.