Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand won a nerve wracking contest against former challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the first round of FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament in Russia yesterday. As it happened, Topalov watched as Anand penetrated in the base rank with his rooks and completed the formalities in familiar fashion. The game lasted 49 moves. In other games yesterday, all-American and all-Russian duel ended in draws without much ado. Hikaru Nakamura took his chances and appeared slightly better against compatriot Fabiano Caruana before settling for a draw. Sergey Karjakin of Russia also failed to make an impact against compatriot Peter Svidler.The Candidates Tournament is organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent World Champion. Magnus Carlson is the reigning world champion.