Vishwanathan Anand on Saturday conceded an easy half point to Grandmaster Arkadi Naiditsch of Germany in the ninth and penultimate round of the Dortmund Sparkassen chess tournament in Dortmund, Germany.

With this draw, Anand has almost no hope of winning the prestigious event he had won in 1996 and 2000.

The Indian ace has 5 points from nine outings and is trailing tournament leader Viktor Bologan of Moldova by 1 point.

Kramnik drew with Linares champion Peter Leko of Hungary and will remain in joint second position along with Anand.

Anand started off with his pet Ruy Lopez, an opening that has remained faithful to him for a very long time.

Naiditsch (17) threatened to launch the Marshall Attack but Anand deviated and opted for an anti-Marshall move that failed to give him anything worthwhile.

Routine manoeuvering ensued and two minor pieces were traded at the time of the draw on move 19.

Kramnik faced one of the popular variations against the Sicilian Defence and appeared well-armed in the ensuing middle game having played the opening himself against Leko in an earlier encounter.

That game had also ended in a draw, albeit after a long battle, and this time Leko also failed to deliver anything worthwhile.

After just 21 moves the players were left with just a couple of rooks and a pair of minor pieces and agreed to a draw.

With just one round remaining, Leko is the only player in the tournament without a victory. He will face Naiditsch with black pieces in his final game on Sunday.

Anand will also have black pieces against Radjabov and he would also try to avenge his defeat at the hands of the young genius earlier in the tournament.