| MONACO,
March 28: Viswanathan
Anand had mixed luck, losing yet another blindfold game, but
then crushed Lev Aronian in the rapid game to extend his lead
to a full points in the section after nine rounds of the Melody
Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament. NIIT-supported
Anand is now a clear leader in Rapid, but is sharing the overall
second position with Vassily Ivanchuk. The overall leader
continues to be Vladimir Kramnik, who is also the leader in
blindfold section.
Levon Aronian won an important
game against Anand. As is often the case in the Armenian’s
games, it looked as if he won effortlessly, but that certainly
was not the case. Aronian explained that Black’s 19…Rdf8
should have been replaced by 19…Rad8. He felt the error
that black knight’s going to b4. Instead he felt that
Anand should have exchanged the knight against its white counterpart
on f3. Now Aronian developed a strong attack and the united
force of the white queen and rook were too much for Black’s
defences.
Anand hit back in the rapid
game, where he first won the opening battle and then a highly
promising endgame. In a Marshall Gambit of the Ruy Lopez,
Aronian believed that he was fine after 21…Nd5. Anand
begged to differ. He had studied the line as well and had
stopped after 25.Bxg5 with the conclusion that White was much
better. Perhaps Aronian could have defended better in the
opposite-coloured bishops endgame, but as it Anand coolly
collected the point after 57 moves.
Interestingly Aronian is one
of the very few players to a equal career score against Anand.
The two have now two wins each and two draws in only six games
they have played against each other.
Magnus Carlsen and Kramnik
drew their blindfold game when the board was still filled
with pieces. Actually, the number of pieces that were still
in play was an important reason for Kramnik to offer a draw.
After the game he confessed that at that point he was starting
to ‘lose pieces’ in his memory and not knowing
exactly where your pieces are is not a good thing in blindfold
chess. The opening was a Ruy Lopez.
The rapid game saw Kramnik
dominate the young Norwegian in a Botvinnik Slav.
Peter Leko faced an unappealing
task in his blindfold game against Vasily Ivanchuk. The Hungarian
has not been well for the past days and it was obvious to
anyone that he appeared at the table in poor physical condition.
Leko’s game collapsed in the middle game. Soon the black
pieces invaded his ranks looking for the vulnerable white
king.
The rapid game was a prolonged
Exchange Variation. From time to time Ivanchuk and Leko exchanged
some pieces and after 30 moves the players called it a day.
Results of Round 9: Blindfold:
Carlsen drew with Kramnik; Svidler drew with Van Wely; Vallejo
drew with Morozevich; Aronian beat Anand; Leko lost to Ivanchuk;
Gelfand beat Radjabov
Results of Round 9: Rapid:
Kramnik beat Carlsen; Van Wely beat Svidler; Morozevich beat
Vallejo; Anand beat Aronian; Ivanchuk drew with Leko; Radjabov
drew with Gelfand
Results of Round 9: Blindfold:
1. Kramnik 8.0; 2. Ivanchuk, Svidler and Gelfand 6.0; 5. Morozevich
and Aronian 5.0; 7. Anand 4.0; 8. Carlsen and Radjabov 3.5;
10. Leko 3.0; 11. Van Wely and Vallejo Pons 2.0
Results of Round 9: Rapid:
1. Anand 7.5; 2. Kramnik, Aronian and Ivanchuk 5.5; 5. Leko
5.0; 6. Carlsen and Morozevich 4.5; 8. Svidler 4.0; 9. Gelfand
3.5; 10. Radjabov and Van Wely 3.0; 12. Vallejo Pons 2.5;
Results of Round 9: Combined:
1. Kramnik 13.5; 2. Ivanchuk and Anand 11.5; 4. Aronian 10.5;
5. Svidler 10.0; 6. Morozevich and Gelfand 9.5; 8. Carlsen
and Leko 8.0; 10. Radjabov 6.5; 11. Van Wely 5.0; 12. Vallejo
Pons 4.5
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