Former world champion Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw by Vladislav Artemiev of Russia in the eighth and penultimate round, ending the Indian challenge in the Isle of Man International Chess tournament here Sunday.

Up against the Sicilian Najdorf, Anand went for a full bloodied battle by pushing his king side pawns early in the game, but the Russian seemed familiar with the setup as he broke through in the centre leading to positions akin to French defense. The typical structure gave ample counter play to black and once the Queens got traded there was little chance for either players. The game lasted 32 moves. S P Sethuraman continued with his fine form and drew with last world championship finalist Sergey Karjakin of Russia but this result only helped him reach 5.5 points along with Anand.