London : Former world champion Viswanathan Anand finally put up a brave front in a difficult situation to draw with reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the third round of the London Chess Classic now underway here. The game of fluctuating fortunes witnessed Anand exerting early pressure and Carlsen was on the edge while towards the the Norwegian let go of his opportunities in what was a keenly contested game of the third round. After one decisive game in round one and none in round two, the third day also witnessed just one decisive game wherein Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France defeated now-struggling Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. A leader at the start of this final edition of the first Grand Chess Tour, Topalov needs a miracle to hold on to his top spot in the tour now.
The other three games of the ten-player round-robin tournament ended in draws but not without action. Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri survived a hopeless-looking position against his Russian counterpart Alexander Grischuk while Hikaru Nakamura fought his way back from the jaws of defeat against Fabiano Caruana in the all-American duel. In the other game, local wildcard entrant Michael Adams remained impregnable and held Levon Aronian of Armenia to an easy draw.
