| MONACO,
March 20: VISWANATHAN Anand and Vassily Ivanchuk traded one
win each in the third round of the Melody Amber Blindfold
and Rapid chess tournament in one of the most exciting and
swift performances from both sides.
While Ivanchuk dealt Anand the blow
in the first blindfold game, NIIT-sponsored Anand quickly
repaid back that with a ruthless win in rapid. The win in
Rapid kept Anand in second place in rapid section and he was
fourth overall. Anand has 3.5 points.
No player managed to win both games
in third round and Vladimir Kramnik kept his nose ahead in
overall standings, as he totalled five points from three rounds
and six games so far. Lev Aronian, who has a spotless record
in rapid and leads it, is second overall while Ivanchuk is
third with four points. Anand is half a point behind.
A year ago at the 2006 Amber clashes
Anand won the blindfold game and drew the rapid. And this
year in Linares- Morelia, Anand and Ivanchuk drew both their
games.
In the blindfold this time, Ivanchuk
concentrated heavily against Anand, probably after the chances
he missed against Morozevich in the previous round. Ivanchuk
played fast and in all took juts 10 minutes for his entire
game against Anand. The game was in Nimzo-Indian Classical
and Ivanchuk ran away with a full point in just 23 moves.
Probably Anand was affected by this
speed, and soon ended up in a precarious position. His 18th
move was not precise and then he losing. His 21st move added
to the discomfort as he was losing a piece and he resigned
soon after.
The rapid clash was in Ruy Lopez and
Anand dominated it. Anand struck back hard in the rapid game,
blitzing out his moves and only slowing down after he had
pocketed Ivanchuk’s queen. Again the white player spent
little more than ten minutes on the clock. As Anand walked
into the analysis room an amused Peter Leko asked him, ‘Vishy,
why the hurry?’ As if he didn’t know. Anand explained
that he didn’t believe that Black’s 20…cxd3
was such a good move, although he only found out as the game
continued. ‘I though I’d have some compensation
after 21.Nxh4 dxc2, but I had no idea that Black’s position
would go downhill so quickly.’ It was a modest assessment
of a ruthless act of destruction in 46 quick moves.
It is still early stages in the tournament.
Vladimir Kramnik has been dominating the blindfold with three
wins in three games, while Levon Aronian has been dominating
the rapid with a similar score.
In the overall standings Kramnik is
leading with five out of six points, which is half a point
ahead of Aronian. Last year’s winners Vishy Anand and
Alexander Morozevich have some catching up to do. Anand is
trailing the leader by one and a half points. Morozevich is
two points behind.
The 16th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament
will be held at the Fairmont Monte Carlo Hotel in Monaco.
The tournament is organized by the Association Max Euwe has
a total prize fund of € 216,000. Every day there is one
round consisting of four sessions; two blindfold sessions
(three encounters each) and next two rapid sessions. There
are two rest days on March 21 and March 26 and the final is
on March 29.
Results: Round 3: Blindfold: Leko beat
Vallejo; Gelfand beat Aronian; Carlsen drew with Svidler;
Van Wely lost to Radjabov; Morozevich lost to Kramnik; Ivanchuk
beat Anand.
Results: Round 3: Rapid: Vallejo drew
with Leko; Aronian beat Gelfand; Svidler drew with Carlsen;
Radjabov lost to Van Wely; Kramnik drew with Morozevich; Anand
beat Ivanchuk.
Round 3 Standings: Blindfold: Kramnik
3.0; 2. Ivanchuk 2.5; 3. Svidler and Gelfand 2.0; 5. Morozevich,
Aronian and Leko 1.5; 8. Carlsen, Vallejo Pons, Anand and
Radjabov 1.0; 12. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2683 0.0;
Round 3 Standings: Rapid: 1. Aronian 3.0; 2. Anand 2.5; 3.
Kramnik 2.0; 4. Morozevich, Ivanchuk, Carlsen and Leko 1.5;
8. Vallejo Pons, Gelfand, Svidler and Van Wely 1.0; 12. Radjabov
0.5.
Combined: 1. Kramnik 5.0; 2. Aronian 4.5; 3. Ivanchuk 4.0;
4. Anand 3.5; 5. Morozevich, Gelfand, Svidler and Leko 3.0;
9. Carlsen 2.5; 10. Vallejo Pons 2.0; 11. Radjabov 1.5; 12.
Van Wely 1.0;
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