Alexandru Gigantti Nepomniachtchi (left) and Magnus Carlsen in a drawn match – the world champion now has a 2.5-point lead on five wins and a draw
Hosts Norway’s Magnus Carlsen has fought back from a shaky start in his quest for a fourth world chess title with a drawn fifth match against India’s Vishy Anand.
The world champion trailed the leading Indian 4.5-3.5 after the third game of the 10-game campaign.
But, after starting strongly, the 22-year-old secured his fifth win, while ending Anand’s chances of securing the win and a place in the final of the prestigious event.
Anand gave his best but Carlsen got the better of him at the end – giving the Norwegian a comfortable lead heading into the sixth and final match of the campaign on 24 October.
It is the ninth time Carlsen has played to a draw with Anand since both started playing together at the World Chess Olympiad in Turin in 2012.
Carlsen, whose victory in last year’s World Chess Championship was the first held after the qualification period for this event ended, has won three titles so far in 2015, securing his fourth in a row in the Fall Baccalaureate in Paris earlier this month.
It is the fourth time a Norwegian, Carlsen or Henning Skoog, has won the title – and first since Erhard Stumpf in 1930.
However, Carlsen is on course to become the first player to win all four since the start of the modern tournament format in 1934.