Anand has seven points and Leko 6.5. Sadler, Jeron Piket and Vladimir Kramnik have 5.5 points.

In the last round both Leko and Anand have black. Anand plays Peter Svidler, whilst Leko plays Loek van Wely.

In a Sicilian Najdorf, where Anand had white, Sadler, one of the two English players in the field gave the Indian some scary moments and at one stage seemed close to causing a major upset. The Indian GM played a novelty on move 11. Sadler had to find an over-the-board solution to Anand's home preparation. Sadler was able to move his King to a safer place and to bring his rook into play with brilliant play and followed up with pawn sacrifice.

But time pressure could not be worked on further and Anand managed to solve the problems with a combination after which the draw was agreed after33 moves.

The 19-year old Peter Leko stunned Michael Adams and closed the gap between him and Anand to just half a point with one round to go. However in the tenth round in Ruy Lopez he played brilliantly with white and had Adams on the mat. He played a great novelty on the 22nd move and Adams had a tough position and lost a pawn for which he had no compensation. He made it worse by sacrificing a piece in vain and the game was over in 40 moves.

Lautier who started this event so disastrously is finding his way back up slowly after his second win in this event. In the Gruenfeld Indian his victim was Peter Svilder, with black, who didn't survive the opening all too well.

Picket played against his old teacher Viktor Korchnoi. The Dutchman got a good position but he offered a draw on move 27 which was accepted by Viktor. Piket had some time problem with six minutes for last 13 moves. The game was Queen's Gambit declined, Tarrash defence.

Vadim Zviaginsev one of the unbeaten players crashed against thefellow Russian Kramnik. Zviaginsev, for the first time awed by a rival, played passively.

Kramnik got a better position after the opening and showed his class by turning the advantage into a full point from a game that Queen's Gambit with Kramnik having white.

Topalov after six and half hours managed only a draw against Loek van Wely. The Bulgarian who had lost his last three games was going all out for a win. He was also better off but could not convert into a win.

Results: Anand drew with Sadler; Leko bt Adams; Piket drew with Korchnoi; Kramnik bt Zviaginsev; Toplov drew with Van Wely; Lautier bt Svidler.

Points after 10 rounds: Anand 7; Leko 6.5; Sadler, Piket, Kramnik 5.5 each; Zviaginsev, Adams 5; Svidler, Van Wiley 4.5; Topolov, Lautier 4; Korchnoi 3.

Pairings for final round: Svidler-Anand; Adams-Lautier; Van Wiley -Leko; Korchnoi--Topalov; Zviaginsev-Piket