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Anand battles to share the honours

Viswanathan Anand was in a spot of bother before he went on to hold overnight joint leader Ian Nepomniachtchi in the first game of the sixth round in the chess24 Legends of Chess on Sunday.

After Peter Leko bounced back to beat Anand 3-2 in the fifth round, the Indian produced a series of fine defensive moves to keep the Russian at bay after being down a pawn. Eventually, the game ended after 53 moves following perpetual checks.

On a day when Magnus Carlsen defeated off-form Ding Liren 2.5-1.5 in a match rescheduled four hours before the normal starting time and maintained his all-win record, Peter Svidler and Vladimir Kramnik lost.

On Saturday, Anand was a draw away from winning his match against Leko but the Hungarian won twice in succession to deny the Indian.

The results: Sixth round: Magnus Carlsen (Nor) bt Ding Liren (Chn) 2.5-1.5; Game One: Viswanathan Anand drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) bt Peter Svidler (Rus); Boris Gelfand (Isr) bt Vladimir Kramnik (Rus); Peter Leko (Hun) bt Anish Giri (Ned).

Fifth round: Leko bt Anand 3-2; Carlsen bt Ivanchuk 3-2; Nepomniachtchi bt Svidler 3-1; Giri bt Gelfand 2.5-1.5; Kramnik bt Ding 2.5-1.5.

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