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The seventeenth Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament is taking place from March 15 to 27 in the Palais de la Mediterranée, Nice, France. Twelve leading grandmasters play blindfold and rapid chess games against each other. The prize fund is a massive 216,000 Euro (currently US $336,000). The sponsor is Dutch billionaire Joop Van Oosterom.
The playing venue of the seventeenth Amber Tournament in Nice, France
| Round four: Blindfold Chess | Round four: Rapid Chess | |||
| Gelfand-Van Wely | 0-1 | Van Wely-Gelfand | ½-½ | |
| Karjakin-Ivanchuk | ½-½ | Ivanchuk-Karjakin | 1-0 | |
| Aronian-Carlsen | ½-½ | Carlsen-Aronian | 0-1 | |
| Kramnik-Morozevich | 1-0 | Morozevich-Kramnik | ½-½ | |
| Anand-Leko | ½-½ | Leko-Anand | 1-0 | |
| Mamedyarov-Topalov | 0-1 | Topalov-Mamedyarov | ½-½ | |
The fourth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament was marked by an impromptu birthday celebration for Ukrainian GM Vasily Ivanchuk, who turned 40 on March 18. Ivanchuk has played in this tournament every year ever since it was first held in 1992!
Now we are 39! Top Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk
There was also some interesting news regarding world champion Vishy Anand: he received an honorary doctorate from the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University in Chennai. Due to his participation in the Amber tournament the World Champion Anand could not attend the ceremony, but was represented by his parents. This is the third honorary doctorate for Anand. Unfortunately he celebrated by losing his rapid chess game to Peter Leko.
Greetings and congratulations for Dr. Dr. Dr. Anand from opponent Peter
Leko, who drew this blindfold game and then, showing little respect of academic
titles, won the rapid chess encounter. On the right: Vladimir Kramnik.
| Round five: Blindfold Chess | Round five: Rapid Chess | |||
| Topalov-Kramnik | ½-½ | Kramnik-Topalov | 1-0 | |
| Leko-Mamedyarov | 1-0 | Mamedyarov-Leko | ½-½ | |
| Morozevich-Anand | 1-0 | Anand-Morozevich | 1-0 | |
| Carlsen-Gelfand | 1-0 | Gelfand-Carlsen | ½-½ | |
| Ivanchuk-Aronian | ½-½ | Aronian-Ivanchuk | 1-0 | |
| Van Wely-Karjakin | ½-½ | Karjakin-Van Wely | 1-0 | |
The heavy-weight bout between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik started (without a handshake) with a Petroff Defence in the blindfold game. White got a slight advantage, but the game ended with a threefold repetition, which saved the players the trouble working out some courteous method of agreeing to a draw. They both looked into the direction of the arbiter, all three nodded their heads, and that was it. In the rapid game Kramnik scored a fine win that gave him satisfaction both from a sporting and a creative point of view.
To shake or not to shake: Blindfold chess in hostile atmosphere between
old enemies
In the rapid chess game Vladimir Kramnik scored a fine victory over Veselin
Topalov
The big winner of round five was Levon Aronian, who moved into the sole lead in the overall standings with 6.5/10 points, one point ahead of a pack of no fewer than six players.
In the lead: Armenian GM Levon Aronian
Blindfold |
Rapid |
Combined |
||
1. Carlsen 3½ |
1. Aronian 4 |
1. Aronian 6½ |
