Viswanathan Anand broke the sequence of draws with a resounding victory with black pieces against Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and joined the leaders following the seventh round of Norway chess tournament here on Tuesday.
An unbeaten Anand’s first victory raised his tally to 3.5 points and saw him share the lead with Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Wesley So.
All other boards witnessed drawn encounters.
Two rounds remain.
In Ruy Lopez, Anand let Lagrave capture a black rook with a knight on the 26th move and it was this judgement helped the five-time World champion gain a psychological edge.
“Even a little bit later I realized that I’m better,” said Anand.
“It’s a strange sensation that you’re not realizing what’s happening at first.”
The results: (Seventh round): Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2/6) lost to Viswanathan Anand (3.5/6); Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3/6) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm, 3.5/7); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3/7) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3.5/6); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3/6) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 3/6); Magnus Carlsen (3.5/6) bye.
Eighth-round pairings: Anand-Caruana; Carlsen Mamedyarov; So-Lagrave; Nakamura-Karjakin; Aronian bye.