Another win for Anand, becomes world No. 2

 Shamkir (Azerbaijan), April 25 

With his second victory on the trot in the strongest tournament of the year, Anand made sure of at least a second place finish as the Indian ace took his tally to 5.5 points out of a possible eight.

World champion Magnus Carlsen remained in front after settling for a draw with erstwhile leader Wesley So of United States. The Norwegian took his tally to six points. Carlsen, however, has a clear edge to win the title as he is set to play with lowest seed Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan in his final round game while Anand will have to tackle second seed Fabiano Caruana of Italy.

It turned out to be another exciting day as last-placed Michael Adams of England defeated Anish Giri of Holland. In another decisive game, lowly placed Vladimir Kramnik of Russia improved his tournament standing at the expense of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France. The other game of the day between Mamedov and Caruana also ended in a draw.

With Carlsen leading and Anand on his toes, Caruana and So share the third spot on 4.5 points each and the Italian is likely to go all out against Anand which might give the Indian an extra chance to catch up with Carlsen in the event the Norwegian draws his game. — PTI