From correspondents in Delhi, India, 08:02 PM IST

World No. 2 Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand outplayed young Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen in the third round of the Linares-Morelia Super GMs chess tournament in Morelia, Mexico, to share the lead.

The Indian now shares the lead with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine with two points ahead of the first rest day of the tournament that is being held in two legs in Linares in Spain and Morelia. The first leg of the eight-man tournament is in Morelia.

Anand drew his first two rounds with Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Ivanchuk, who came in as a late replacement in the tournament, according to information received here.

NIIT-sponsored Anand's win over Carlsen was the only decisive game of Monday and it came from black pieces, following a Queen's Gambit Meran.

Anand played beautifully and turned the contest around after a seemingly equal middle game. With Carlsen falling into Anand's trap, the Indian chess whiz squeezed him in the endgame.

The two opened in Queen's Gambit Meran, made famous by Rubinstein. Initially Carlsen did not put much pressure on Anand and allowed him a free hand. In the middle game, both seemed equal, more so with opposite coloured bishops.

But slowly Anand pulled away creating an edge for himself as Carlsen made small but costly errors as he tried to make a fight of it. The Indian steadily began putting pressing on his young opponent and then with a passed pawn, he hammered home and Carlsen resigned on the 40th.

Anand had twice beaten Carlsen at Leon in 2005 and in four other clashes - the two had split points, the last time being in Corus in January this year.

In the fourth round, which will be held Wednesday, Anand has white pieces against Morozevich.

In the other games, Veselin Topalov of Russia drew with Peter Leko of Hungary in a Queen's Indian game lasting 39 moves, while Peter Svidler of Russia drew with Ivanchuk in a Petroff after 53 moves and Alexander Morozevich of Russia and Levon Aronian of Armenia played a draw in 43 moves from Queen's Gambit declined in Ragozin.

Results of Round 3: Topalov drew with Leko; Carlsen lost to Anand; Svidler drew with Ivanchuk; Morozevich drew with Aronian

Standings: 1. Anand and Ivanchuk 2.0 points; 3. Svidler, Leko, Aronian and Carlsen 1.5; 7. Topalov and Morozevich 1.0

Pairings for Round 4: Leko-Aronian; Anand-Morozevich; Ivanchuk-Carlsen; Topalov-Svidler

(Staff Writer, © IANS)