Aronian wins 20th and final edition of Amber Blindfold & Rapid Chess Tournament

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

Congratulations to Levon Aronian for winning the 20th and final edition of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament. In the blindfold session of the last round, he drew against Sergey Karjakin while his main rival Magnus Carlsen lost to Boris Gelfand. This decided everything: Aronian also became the winner of the Blindfold tournament and Carlsen finished first in the Rapid.

Aronian was in the saddle since the very start to a beautiful victory and he never really gave anyone else the chance to catch up.


The 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament took place at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort in Monaco, from March 11 to 25, 2011. The tournament was organised by the Association Max Euwe of chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom, which is based in Monaco. This 20th Amber tournament was the final edition of an event unparalleled in the history of chess. The total prize-fund was € 227,000. The rate of play was 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds were added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds were added.

You can find all the details and photos of the excellent chess tournament at the official website. It's a pity it would not be held any more. Here are the final standings:

Final Standings:

 

Blindfold

1. Aronian 8½

2. Anand 7

3. Gashimov 6

  Gelfand 6

  Grischuk 6

4. Karjakin 5½

5. Carlsen 5

  Ivanchuk 5

  Nakamura 5

6. Topalov 4½

7. Kramnik 4

8. Giri 3½

Rapid

1. Carlsen 9½

2. Aronian 7

3. Anand 6

  Ivanchuk 6

  Topalov 6

4. Nakamura 5½

5. Grischuk 5

6. Gashimov 4½

  Gelfand 4½

  Karjakin 4½

7. Kramnik 4

8. Giri 3½

Combined

1. Aronian 15½

2. Carlsen 14½

3. Anand 13

4. Grischuk 11

  Ivanchuk 11

5. Gashimov 10½

  Gelfand 10½

  Nakamura 10½

  Topalov 10½

6. Karjakin 10

7. Kramnik 8

8. Giri 7

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Amber R10: Aronian goes into final round with one point lead ahead of Carlsen

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

Grandmaster Levon Aronian has played one steady-strong variety of chess at the jubilee edition of the Amber Chess 2011. The traditional tournament ends with the last round coming up today. And, Aronian goes into the last round with a full one point lead over Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen has already won the Rapid Section ahead of Aronian while Aronian has won the Blindfold Section ahead of Anand. Here are the Round 10 standings and results.

Standings after the tenth round

Blindfold		Rapid		Combined
1. Aronian 8 2. Anand 6 3. Gashimov 5½ Grischuk 5½ 4. Carlsen 5 Gelfand 5 Karjakin 5 Nakamura 5 5. Ivanchuk 4½ 6. Topalov 4 7. Giri 3½ 8. Kramnik 3		1. Carlsen 8½ 2. Aronian 6½ 3. Ivanchuk 6 4. Anand 5 Topalov 5 5. Gelfand 4½ Grischuk 4½ Nakamura 4½ 6. Gashimov 4 Karjakin 4 Kramnik 4 7. Giri 3½		1. Aronian 14½ 2. Carlsen 13½ 3. Anand 11 4. Ivanchuk 10½ 5. Grischuk 10 6. Gashimov 9½ Gelfand 9½ Nakamura 9½ 7. Karjakin 9 Topalov 9 8. Giri 7 Kramnik 7

Wednesday, March 23, Round 10
14.30	Blindfold	Topalov 0-1 Aronian	Kramnik ½-½ Ivanchuk	Karjakin ½-½ Nakamura
16.00		Gelfand 1-0 Giri	Grischuk ½-½ Carlsen	Anand ½-½ Gashimov
17.45	Rapid	Aronian ½-½ Topalov	Ivanchuk ½-½ Kramnik	Nakamura ½-½ Karjakin
19.15		Giri ½-½ Gelfand	Carlsen 1-0 Grischuk	Gashimov 0-1 Anand

You can find a detailed and nice report on each of the games at the official website. Now, some super videos. Enjoy.








From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Amber Chess R9: Aronian holds on to lead, Carlsen in hot pursuit

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

The 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament is taking place at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort in Monaco, from March 11 to 24, 2011. Every day four sessions are played, two blindfold and two rapid. The first session starts at 14.30h, the fourth session finishes around 20.00h. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added.

We are through with nine rounds. The surprise in the round was Carlsen losing to Anand his blindfold game but coming back to win the rapid one. This allowed Levon Aronian to increase his lead ahead of Carlsen from half a point to a full point. Aronian beat Vladimir Kramnik 1.5-0.5. But two rounds are still to be played and it's got to be between Aronian and Carlsen. Carlsen leads the remaining pack of players with 1.5 point ahead of Anand, Grischuk and Ivanchuk.

You can find an excellent detailed report of all the games at the official website.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com

How Aronian beat Anand and other videos from Amber 2011

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Here are some very nice videos from Amber 2011. Enjoy!

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Amber 2011 R8: Aronian leads half point ahead of Carlsen

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Going into the second rest day of the tournament, leader Levon Aronian maintained his half-point lead with Magnus Carlsen following close behind. The rest of the pack was quite a bit away! The eighth round saw draws all around.

The 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament takes place at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort in Monaco, from March 11 to 25, 2011. The tournament is organized by the Association Max Euwe of chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom, which is based in Monaco. This 20th Amber tournament is the final edition of an event unparalleled in the history of chess. The total prize-fund is € 227,000. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added. Full schedule here.

Sunday, March 20, Round 8
14.30	Blindfold	Grischuk ½-½ Nakamura	Anand ½-½ Aronian	Gelfand ½-½ Ivanchuk
16.00		Kramnik ½-½ Gashimov	Karjakin ½-½ Giri	Topalov ½-½ Carlsen
17.45	Rapid	Nakamura 1-0 Grischuk	Aronian 1-0 Anand	Ivanchuk 1-0 Gelfand
19.15		Gashimov 1-0 Kramnik	Giri 1-0 Karjakin	Carlsen 1-0 Topalov

You can find a very nice detailed report of all the games at the official website.

Standings after the eighth round

Blindfold		Rapid		Combined
1. Aronian 6 2. Anand 4½ Carlsen 4½ Grischuk 4½ 3. Gashimov 4 Gelfand 4 Karjakin 4 4. Topalov 4 Ivanchuk 3½ Nakamura 3½ Giri 3 5. Kramnik 2½		1. Carlsen 6½ 2. Aronian 5½ 3. Ivanchuk 5 4. Anand 4 Gashimov 4 Nakamura 4 5. Grischuk 3½ Topalov 3½ 6. Gelfand 3 Giri 3 Karjakin 3 Kramnik 3		1. Aronian 11½ 2. Carlsen 11 3. Anand 8½ Ivanchuk 8½ 4. Gashimov 8 Grischuk 8 5. Nakamura 7½ Topalov 7½ 6. Gelfand 7 Karjakin 7 7. Giri 6 8. Kramnik 5½

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com