World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against top British Michael Adams with black pieces in the first round of third Chess Classic, here.

Taking into account his mediocre result in just finished Tal Memorial, where the World Champion ended with as many as nine draws, this was Anand's 10th draw in a row in classical chess.

World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway snatched early lead in the 160000 Pounds Sterling tournament after defeating lowest-ranked David Howell of England in a tense game.

With the soccer-like scoring system in place with three points for a win and one for a draw, the Norwegian enjoys a two-point lead over nearest rivals as the other games ended in draws.

Anand was not at all put out and his reply was self-deprecating.

'Even if they had been using a 9-1-0 scoring system in Moscow, I would probably still have drawn all my games.'