<p>After surviving a real scare against Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in the seventh round, Anand could do little with his white pieces against Topalov, who appeared well-armed after his first victory in the tournament in the previous round.<br /><br />The lead positions remained unchanged as the other two games of the day also ended in draws.<br /><br />Carlsen was troubled for a short time by Chinese hopeful Wang Yue but eventually got a draw, while Etienne Bacrot of France settled for the peace treaty quite early against Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan.<br /><br />With just two rounds to come in the six-player double round-robin tournament, Carlsen retained his lead and barring a debacle, he looks set to annex the title here.<br />The Norwegian took his tally to 5.5 points out of a possible eight to keep Anand and Bacrot at a full point distance. Topalov and Gashimov are on 3.5 points and sharing the fourth spot, while Wang now has 2.5 points in his kitty.<br /><br />In the remaining two rounds of this 250000 Euros prize money event, Carlsen has to meet Topalov and Gashimov, while Anand will take on Gashimov and Bacrot.<br /><br />The Frenchman has Wang apart from the Indian ace and things can heat up if Anand and Bacrot win the next round.<br /><br />Topalov did not have to do much against a topical Catalan that has become a frequent visitor in top level chess these days. The Bulgarian went for a recently popular sequence of moves and got the dynamic balance he was looking for in the ensuing middle game.<br /><br />It was on the 15th move that Topalov sacrificed a knight showing precise calculations.<br /><br />Anand had to except and then took his king for a short walk and gave his extra material back to restore parity. Topalov again came with an exchange sacrifice and after Anand accepted it, another piece sacrifice followed to force a draw through repetition of moves.<br /><br />The game lasted 31 moves</p>
<p>After surviving a real scare against Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in the seventh round, Anand could do little with his white pieces against Topalov, who appeared well-armed after his first victory in the tournament in the previous round.<br /><br />The lead positions remained unchanged as the other two games of the day also ended in draws.<br /><br />Carlsen was troubled for a short time by Chinese hopeful Wang Yue but eventually got a draw, while Etienne Bacrot of France settled for the peace treaty quite early against Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan.<br /><br />With just two rounds to come in the six-player double round-robin tournament, Carlsen retained his lead and barring a debacle, he looks set to annex the title here.<br />The Norwegian took his tally to 5.5 points out of a possible eight to keep Anand and Bacrot at a full point distance. Topalov and Gashimov are on 3.5 points and sharing the fourth spot, while Wang now has 2.5 points in his kitty.<br /><br />In the remaining two rounds of this 250000 Euros prize money event, Carlsen has to meet Topalov and Gashimov, while Anand will take on Gashimov and Bacrot.<br /><br />The Frenchman has Wang apart from the Indian ace and things can heat up if Anand and Bacrot win the next round.<br /><br />Topalov did not have to do much against a topical Catalan that has become a frequent visitor in top level chess these days. The Bulgarian went for a recently popular sequence of moves and got the dynamic balance he was looking for in the ensuing middle game.<br /><br />It was on the 15th move that Topalov sacrificed a knight showing precise calculations.<br /><br />Anand had to except and then took his king for a short walk and gave his extra material back to restore parity. Topalov again came with an exchange sacrifice and after Anand accepted it, another piece sacrifice followed to force a draw through repetition of moves.<br /><br />The game lasted 31 moves</p>