Chennai: Indian ace chess player and defending champion Viswanathan Anand, drew his second game against world's No.1 player, Magnus Carlsen in the world chess championship in Chennai on Sunday. Anand and Carlsen share points with ten matches left to play.
The opening game among the duo ended in a draw on Saturday. Both players settled with sharing of points after 16 moves each in the first game to remain even at the start of the big-money 12-game showpiece event.
Both the top chess players will play 12 matches for over 20 days to decide the winner of the tournament. In head-to-head ahead prior to the event, Anand leads the Norwegian 6-3. Twenty matches between them have been drawn.
Vishwanathan and Carlsen are playing for a USD 2.55 million prize. The 43-year-old Super Grand Master is the undisputed world champion since 2008. He first won the title in 2000. Carlsen is the present world No. 1 and became the second youngest Grandmaster in the history of the sport when he was 13. The first to reach 6.5 points in Chennai will be the winner. A win is worth a point while a draw is worth half-a-point.
Praising the world number one grandmaster, Anand said that Carlsen was the toughest opponent he has faced so far in his career. "Carlsen is my toughest opponent so far. I decided to be a little bit prudent today. We both have a bit of info about what the other person is aiming for," Anand said in the post-match press conference.
On the other hand, 22-year-old Carlsen said Game 2 wasn't too dissimilar from the Saturday's opening duel. "I feel it was a little but similar to my earlier game," Carlsen said.
When asked about the 12-game system, both players refused to comment.
