Wijk aan Zee: Viswanthan Anand settled for another easy draw, with local hope Loek van Wely, and maintained joint lead after the end of the third round of the Corus chess tournament on Tuesday.

Anand, Peter Leko of Hungary and Russian Peter Svidler share the lead with two points each from three games and are followed by eight players, including top seed Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, on 1.5 apiece.

The 12-14 position is shared by Evgeny Bareev of Russia and Dutchmen Van Wely and Jan Timman on one point each.

Yet again the day featured only one decisive game with Svidler striking it big in just 17 moves against 2002 winner and compatriot Bareev. Even though some high-calibre chess was on display, the decisive results remained elusive in this Category 19 event played on an all-play-all basis among 14 GMs.

Anand had no trouble yet again with black as Van Wely, disheartened by the previous round loss against Kramnik, just could not impress despite having the advantage of the first move.

Svidler played the shortest game of the day. And still it yielded him the maximum. Bareev was at his wit’s end in tackling the national champion as he was crushed in no time.

Lasting a move extra than Svidler’s game was the one between Bologan and Kramnik where the Russian played black and faced the Rossolimo Attack. Bologan did not get a desirable position after going for an off beat variation and the draw was agreed to when exchange of a few minor pieces was imminent.