Victory eluded him yet again but defending champion Viswanathan Anand said he was relieved to eke out a draw after two losses on the trot against Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship here today.
"Obviously after the last two games it's nice to break this result but I was hoping to be able to press him a little but I could not manage," Anand said in a press conference after the seventh-round game here.
Carlsen, meanwhile, continued to enjoy his two points lead after the deadlock. The Norwegian now needs just two points in the next five games to become the next world champion.
Anand elaborated the game in perfect fashion to a packed audience, a sign that the Indian has recovered and is raring to have a go again.
"I chose a line that both of us have played quite a bit in the past. He went for this Bishop move and then we have this slow manoeuvring game. White has two plans, a break on king side or play on the flank. 'f4' was not so good as black is basically preparing to play this knight manoeuvre.
"I thought I will be able to press a little bit, it's not huge but somehow I was not able to make it happen," Anand said matter-of-factly.
Carlsen almost echoed the opinion.
"Not so much more to say, we both have played this line, there are many different plans of course. But whatever you play it's usually quite slow and the game goes on. I thought I was doing more or less fine, just a little bit worse but not much. It's just going to be a bit more pleasant, but my pieces are well developed," he said.
