Anand joint 5th after another draw in London

London: World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out another draw, signing peace with Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the eighth and penultimate round of London Chess Classic here.

On his 42nd birthday, the draw came easy for Anand as he remained on joint fifth spot, taking his tally to eight points in the soccer-like scoring system.

Vladimir Kramnik of Russia steered clear of the field with a hard-fought victory over Luke McShane of England. The Russian moved to 15 points with just one round remaining in the tournament, which has a prize money of 16,000 euros.

With 13 points in his bag, Carlsen holds the second spot while Hikaru Nakamura and McShane are now joint third on 12 points apiece.

Anand and Levon Aronian of Armenia came in next on eight points, three points ahead of Short.

David Howell of England pulled away from the last spot on four points, one better than compatriot Adams who had a bye.

Anand yet again played it out safe in the Queen's gambit declined. Once again Anand was the first to finish his game after Carlsen equalised easily and entered a balanced rook and pawns endgame. The game lasted 33 moves.

Kramnik was involved in the lone decisive game of the day. Luke McShane is widely regarded as world's strongest amateur and yet again he pushed hard with white pieces.

Kramnik felt the heat in the middle game but recovered well to win a rook and won the long drawn affair.

David Howell held onto his own in a Pirc defence game against Levon Aronian. The English exchanged pieces at regular intervals and did not give much space to Aronian who played black.

The players arrived at a level endgame and the draw was a just result after all pawns were traded.

In the other game of the day, Hikaru Nakamura tried hard but could do little against a solid Nigel Short.

It was a closed middle game that continued a long time and Nakamura was visibly displeased with the outcome after he failed to make progress. The peace was signed in 90 moves.

Results (Round 8): Viswanathan Anand (IND, 8) drew with Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 13); Luke McShane (ENG, 12) lost to Vladimir Kramnik (RUS, 15); David Howell (ENG, 4) drew with Levon Aronian (ARM, 8); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 12) drew with Nigel Short (ENG, 5).