PTI

Morelia (Mexico) Feb 26: Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the sixth round of the Morelia-Linares chess tournament here.

The lead positions remained unchanged at the fag end of the Morelia leg of the super tournament as the day failed to produce a single decisive game out of a possible four.

In the other games, Magnus Carlsen took a quick draw with Peter Leko of Hungary, Levon Aronian signed peace with top seed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and the Russian duel between Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler had the same fate.

With only one round remaining in the Morelia leg the event shifts to Linares in Spain thereafter Carlsen remained in sole lead on four points while Anand and Aronian remained on his heels half a point behind.

Leko, Ivanchuk and Svidler are also in close pursuit on three points while Topalov and Morozevich share the last spot on two points apiece.

Eight rounds remain in the eight-player double round robin event.

Anand's game was the longest of the day lasting 32 moves and Ivanchuk used too much time on his clock yet again.

Playing the white side of a Sicilian Najdorf, Anand went for a relatively new idea in the opening but could not gain advantage as Ivanchuk came up with precise manoeuvres.

In the middle game, Ivanchuk sank into his usual deep thinking and Anand's massive lead on the clock appeared to be the best hope for excitement on this otherwise dull day.