| MONACO,
March 24: Viswanathan
Anand was held to a draw in both his games by a resolute Magnus
Carlsen in the sixth round of his Melody Amber Blindfold and
Rapid chess tournament. The draws kept Anand in shared top
place in Rapid, but he continued to languish in blindfold
and therefore was in the middle of the pack in Combined standings.
Vladimir Kramnik bounced back
from his unexpected defeat in fifth round as he beat Lev Aronian
1.5-0.5 in sixth round. Kramnik won in blindfold, where he
has a fantastic score of 5.5 out of six and with three out
of six in rapid he is back in the saddle at 8.5 points.
Ivanchuk was lucky to draw
his mini-match against Peter Svidler and is now in second
place, half a point behind Kramnik. Kramnik keeps impressing
in the blindfold, where his score is now 5.5 out of 6. NIIT
Brand Ambassador Anand and Levon Aronian top the rapid standings
with 4.5 out of 6
Aronian was third with 7.5
points and the NIIT-backed Anand was tied fourth with Peter
Svidler with seven points.
Anand had recently beaten Carlsen
in both games in Morelia-Amber, so it would have been expected
that he would at least win one of the games.
Anand had expected an Open
Ruy Lopez in his blindfold game against Magnus Carlsen but
was taken by surprise by the Sicilian variation they got on
the board. Anand said he had a similar opening four years
ago with Leko and did not remember anything, but what he did
remember was that there was a new move on 18th. He said, “After
which there may be something for White (Anand) if he follows
a very precise path, or there is nothing.’ However after
29 moves Anand came to the conclusion that in this game at
any rate there was nothing and he proposed a draw.
In the rapid game for a long
time looked like a model game by Anand, who gradually outplayed
Carlsen with the black pieces. But exactly when White seemed
to be about to collapse, Carlsen produced 39.Kg2!, a move
that his opponent described as a ‘fantastic resource’.
Anand delved into the position, but no matter how he tried
and calculated, he could not find a win. Anand tried for ten
more moves, but then he resigned himself to the draw.
Kramnik bounced back after
his poor performance of yesterday with a smooth win over Aronian
in their blindfold game. The Armenian grandmaster was comnfortable
in the opening and forcibly lost a pawn after 16…Bb7.
Kramnik converted the advantage with a steady hand and won
easily.
In the rapid game the roles
were reversed. In the opening Kramnik was fine, but when he
played 20…Nc5 he ended up in a worse position. After
20…Nc7 chances would have been approximately equal.
Once he lost the exchange Kramnik was in serious trouble.
However he hung and saved the half point with a draw.
Results Round 6: Blindfold:
Kramnik beat Aronian; Van Wely drew with Leko; Morozevich
drew with Gelfand; Anand drew with Carlsen; Ivanchuk drew
with Svidler; Radjabov beat Vallejo.
Results Round 6: Rapid: Aronian drew
with Kramnik; Leko beat Van Wely; Gelfand drew with Morozevich;
Carlsen drew with Anand; Svidler drew with Ivanchuk; Vallejo
drew with Radjabov
Round 6 Standings: Blindfold:
1. Kramnik 5.5; 2. Ivanchuk, Svidler and Gelfand 4.0; 5. Aronian,
Leko and Radjabov 3.0; 8. Morozevich and Anand 2.5; 10. Carlsen
2.0; 11. Van Wely 1.5; 12. Vallejo Pons 1.0.
Round 6 Standings: Rapid:
1. Aronian and Anand 4.5; 3. Ivanchuk 4.0; 4. Leko 3.5; 5.
Carlsen, Svidler, Kramnik and Morozevich 3.0; 9. Vallejo Pons
2.5; 10. Gelfand and Radjabov 2.0; 12. Van Wely 1.0
Round 6 Standings: Combined:
1. Kramnik 8.5; 2. Ivanchuk 8.0; 3. Aronian 7.5; 4. Svidler
and Anand 7.0; 6. Leko 6.5; 7. Gelfand 6.0; 8. Morozevich
5.5; 9. Carlsen and Radjabov 5.0; 11. Vallejo Pons 3.5; 12.
Van Wely 2.5
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