Hyderabad, Aug. 24: A 14-year-old schoolboy from Bangalore drew in a chess match against grandmaster Viswanathan Anand in a simultaneous 1-against-39 tournament at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2010 here today.

All 38 others — 33 mathematicians who were conference delegates and five nominees of Infosys — lost to Anand in the simultaneous tournament, a special event at the ICM 2010 that began around 3pm and closed a little before 7pm.

“It was fun playing Anand, it was an exciting match,” said Srikar Varadaraj, a Class X student at the Venkat International Public School, Bangalore. The teenager is also a delegate at the ICM 2010 where he has presented a paper on differential geometry.

The 40-move game ended in a draw after both players agreed that neither would win given the positions of the pieces on the chessboard and the remaining time available, said Sunder Perangur, Srikar’s father.

Perangur told The Telegraph that Srikar began playing chess from the age of six and he showed “a passion for both mathematics and chess”. Srikar’s paper presented at the congress had to pass through the standard peer-review process, Perangur said. “I find both interesting and hope to pursue both,” Srikar told The Telegraph.

“We’re pleasantly happy to see this young man come away with a draw,” said Rajat Tandon, head of the mathematics department at the University of Hyderabad. “He was probably the youngest among the players.”

The 39 players included five nominees from Infosys, which has supported the ICM 2010, and 17 foreign delegates.