| MONACO,
March 26: Viswanathan Anand used all his experience and also
capitalized on Paco Vallejo Pons’ mistakes to extend
his lead in rapid section and also become the sole second
in overall standings after eighth round at the Melody Amber
Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament. Anand won both his games
in blindfold and rapid sections and gave himself a chance
to catch up the overall leader Vladimir Kramnik, who is now
one and a half points clear of Anand.
In the eighth round Kramnik
defeated Boris Gelfand 1.5-0.5, while his nearest rival, Vasily
Ivanchuk, lost 0.5-1.5 against Magnus Carlsen. Kramnik continued
his fantastic run in the blindfold with a win. The new runner-up
in the combined standings is Anand, who dominates the rapid
competition with a 6.5 out of 8 score.
Tomorrow is a rest day. Round
9 will start on Tuesday, March 27.
Anand has never lost to Vallejo
Pons in 15 games and he has won seven times and interestingly
all seven wins have come in four editions of Melody Amber
tournament. The only time Vallejo Pons managed a draw was
in blindfold in 2006.
In the blindfold game which
began in Ruy Lopez, Anand, for a long time, felt his game
against Paco Vallejo Pons was a ‘smooth game’.
“I was fine, except for the fact that I couldn’t
see the pieces”, Anand said with a smile. The game developed
quietly and just like the Indian grandmaster himself everyone
had the feeling that he was converting his advantage with
a steady hand. When Vallejo played 37…g4, Anand was
slightly puzzled. When he also pushed 38…g3 he was even
more puzzled. But after he had taken the pawn he suddenly
realized that Black had created a second passed pawn.
In the phase that followed
Anand miraculously managed to stay in the game and looking
back he wasn’t sure if he’d been lost or if the
position was a draw. Once he had survived these critical moments
things were going his way again. The game turned around for
a second time and now Anand remained alert and claimed the
full point in 55 moves.
Anand also won the rapid game
in Queen’s Indian. This time Vallejo had even more reason
to be unhappy. When Black played the opening a bit too optimistic,
White (Vallejo) got a tremendous position. Vallejo wasn’t
quite sure if he had been winning, but in any case it was
hard to imagine that he would lose from this position. He
did when he let Anand back into the game and the win came
in 51 moves. Or, as Leko aptly commented in the hospitality
lounge, ‘When Vishy gets a chance he uses it. That’s
why he is Vishy.’
Results Round 8: Blindfold:
Van Wely lost to Aronian; Morozevich beat Leko;
Kramnik beat Gelfand; Ivanchuk drew
with Carlsen; Radjabov lost to Svidler; Anand beat Vallejo
Results Round 8: Rapid: Aronian drew
with Van Wely; Leko beat Morozevich; Gelfand drew with Kramnik;
Carlsen beat Ivanchuk; Svidler beat Radjabov; Vallejo lost
to Anand
Round 8 Standings: Blindfold:
1. Kramnik 7.5; 2. Svidler 5.5; 3. Ivanchuk and Gelfand 5.0;
5. Morozevich 4.5; 6. Anand and Aronian 4.0; 8. Radjabov 3.5;
9. Carlsen and Leko 3.0; 11. Van Wely and Vallejo Pons 1.5;
Round 8 Standings: Rapid: 1. Anand 6.5;
2. Aronian 5.5; 3. Ivanchuk 5.0; 4. Carlsen, Kramnik and Leko
4.5; 7. Svidler 4.0; 8. Morozevich 3.5; 9. Gelfand 3.0; 10.
Radjabov and Vallejo Pons 2.5; 12. Van Wely 2.0;
Round 8 Standings: Combined: 1. Kramnik
12.0; 2. Anand 10.5; 3. Ivanchuk 10.0; 4. Svidler and Aronian
9.5; 6. Morozevich and Gelfand 8.0; 8. Carlsen and Leko 7.5;
10. Radjabov 6.0; 11. Vallejo Pons 4.0; 12. Van Wely 3.5
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