Anand draws with Giri in Azerbaijan Chess

On what turned out to be a tough day for the Indian ace after easier games in the first two rounds, Anand had his chances but it was never easy as Giri was quite up to the task in defense.

The drawn result was not surprising but it dented Anand's chances in the strongest tournament of the year, which is being held in the memory of Vugar Gashimov.

World champion Magnus Carlsen registered his second straight victory in the super tournament against arch-rival Fabiano Caruana of Italy to move up the ladder in the 10-player double round-robin tournament with a 100000 Euros prize fund.

Wesley So of United States also matched Carlsen on points following a victory over Michael Adams of England. Carlsen and So share the lead on 2.5 points from three rounds having scored two victories early in the tournament. Anand on 1.5 points is decently poised to take on the leaders as the tournament progresses.

Kramnik holds the third spot with two points in his kitty having won the first game against Adams and drawing the remaining two. In this round, the Russian could not squeeze past local hopeful Rauf Mamedov who has impressed everyone with his three draws thus far from as many games here.

Anand is tied fourth with Mamedov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France on 1.5 points and the Indian ace will look forward to getting some good results in the remaining six rounds.