|
Melody Amber
Monte Carlo, Monaco - The traditional Melody Amber tournament of rapid and blindfold chess begins today. The event has been weakened somewhat by FIDE's unfortunate (and unnecessary) decision to set up their Rapid Chess World Cup in conflict.
Nevertheless Zoltan Almasi (Hungary), Viswanathan Anand (India), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Anatoly Karpov (Russia), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Peter Leko (Hungary), Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia), Jeroen Piket (The Netherlands), Alexei Shirov (Spain), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Loek van Wely (The Netherlands) have agreed to play, so the event is not greatly affected.
As ever, the event is generously sponsored by J.J. van Oosterom, and there is a total prize fund of US$ 192,500. The games are not being broadcast live on the Internet but results and scores are posted extremely quickly.
Round One:
Here is the highlight of the first rapid (one-hour games) heat of day one:
B. Gelfand - L. Ljubojevic
Amber 2001 Monaco (1)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Nc3 b6 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.a3 Bb7 11.b4 Be7 12.Bb2 0-0 13.Rc1 h6 14.Qe2 b5 15.Rfd1 Qb6 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Rfd8 18.Nd4 Rac8 [See DIAGRAM] 19.Nxe6!! - A neat and alert tactical execution. 19...fxe6 20.Qg4 e5 21.Qe6+ Kh8 22.Qg6 Kg8 23.Bxe5! Taking advantage of the pin on the Nc6 to bring decisive reinforcement to the attack. 1-0 in view of 23...Bf8 24.Qe6+ Kh8 25.Qxh6+ Kg8 26.Qh5 mating.
Round 1 rapid results:
Almasi - Topalov 0-1
Kramnik - Piket 1-0
Shirov - Van Wely 1-0
Gelfand - Ljubojevic 1-0
Karpov - Anand ½-½
Ivanchuk - Leko 0-1 |
Round 1 blindfold results:
Topalov - Almasi - 1-0
Piket - Kramnik - ½-½
Van Wely - Shirov - 0-1
Ljubojevic - Gelfand - 1-0
Anand - Karpov 1-0
Leko - Ivanchuk 1-0 |
Round Two:
Peter Leko shook off his reputation as a drawing king with a weekend of bold aggression. This intuitive piece sacrifice and the combination of patience and energy that ensues finally shows the Hungarian GM with his talent in free flow.
Leko - Karpov
Amber 2001 Monaco (2 - rapid)
1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d3 e5 4.Nf3 d4 5.Ne2 f6 6.g3 c5 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.0-0 g5 9.c3 a5 10.cxd4 cxd4 11.Nd2 Be6 12.f4 a4 13.Nf3 h6 14.Bd2 Bd6 15.b4 Qb6 16.fxg5 fxg5 [See DIAGRAM 1 ] 17.Bxg5!? An interesting positional piece sacrifice that shows Leko's determination. 17...hxg5 18.Nxg5 Nd8 19.Nxe6 Nxe6 20.h4!? Banking on using the b-file if black grabs the pawn, Leko puts a priority on getting the Bg2 out via h3.20...Rh6 It might have been extremely risky, but taking on b4 would have at least given black something to do, by gaining access to the c5 square. 21.a3 Ke7 22.Rf5 Qc6 23.Qd2 Qe8 24.Raf1 Rc8 25.Bh3 Rc7 26.Qa2 Rd7 27.Kh2 Patient chess, preparing to reroute the knight into the game.
 27...Kd8 28.Ng1 Kc8 29.Nf3 Ne7 30.Rxe5! Bxe5 31.Nxe5 Nc6 32.Nxd7 Qxd7 33.b5 Ne7 34.Qd2 Ng8
[see DIAGRAM 2 ] 35.Qa5 Qd6 36.Bxe6+ Rxe6 37.Rf8+! 1-0 After 37...Qxf8 38.Qa8+ white wins the queen.
Round 2 rapid:
Piket-Almasi 0-1
Ljubojevic-Anand 0-1
Van Wely-Kramnik ½-½
Leko-Karpov 1-0
Topalov-Shirov 1-0
Gelfand-Ivanchuk ½-½
|
Round 2 blindfold:
Almasi-Piket 0-1
Anand-Ljubojevic 0-1
Kramnik-Van Wely 1-0
Karpov-Leko ½-½
Shirov-Topalov ½-½
Ivanchuk-Gelfand 1-0
|
*****
Round 3 rapid:
Ivanchuk-Ljubojevic ½-½
Karpov-Gelfand ½-½
Anand-Leko 1-0
Shirov-Almasi 1-0
Kramnik-Topalov ½-½
Van Wely-Piket ½-½
|
Round 3 blindfold:
Ljubojevic-Ivanchuk 1-0
Almasi-Shirov 1-0
Gelfand-Karpov ½-½
Topalov-Kramnik 1-0
Leko-Anand ½-½
Piket-Van Wely ½-½ |
GM Gausel annotates Round 3 highlights
*****
Round 4, March 20
A key day as the world champions moved into a share of the lead, with Kramnik's shut-out over Shirov being the most impressive result of the day. Piket's opening win over Topalov helped the rest of the field catch up with the hot Bulgarian, and Leko's blindfold win over Ljubojevic ruined the veteran's perfect sightless score and made each event an open contest.
Rapid
Almasi-Van Wely ½-½
Ljubojevic-Leko ½-½
Topalov-Piket 0-1
Gelfand-Anand ½-½
Shirov-Kramnik 0-1
Ivanchuk-Karpov ½-½ |
Blindfold
Van Wely-Almasi ½-½
Leko-Ljubojevic 1-0
Piket-Topalov ½-½
Anand-Gelfand 1-0
Kramnik-Shirov 1-0
Karpov-Ivanchuk ½-½
|
GM Gausel annotates Round 4 highlights
*****
Round 5, March 22
Rapid
Karpov-Ljubojevic 1-0
Kramnik-Almasi ½-½
Anand-Ivanchuk 1-0
Piket-Shirov 1-0
Leko-Gelfand 0-1
Van Wely-Topalov ½-½ |
Blindfold
Ljubojevic-Karpov ½-½
Almasi-Kramnik 0-1
Ivanchuk-Anand ½-½
Shirov-Piket 1-0
Gelfand-Leko ½-½
Topalov-Van Wely 1-0 |
GM Gausel annotates Round 5 highlights
*****
Round 6, March 23
Rapid
Topalov-Gelfand ½-½
Piket-Anand ½-½
Shirov-Ivanchuk ½-½
Van Wely-Leko ½-½
Kramnik-Karpov ½-½
Almasi-Ljubojevic 0-1
|
Blindfold
Gelfand-Topalov ½-½
Anand-Piket 1-0
Ivanchuk-Shirov ½-½
Leko-Van Wely ½-½
Karpov-Kramnik ½-½
Ljubojevic-Almasi0-1 |
GM Gausel annotates Round 6 highlights
*****
Round 7, March 24
Rapid
Leko-Piket 1-0
Ivanchuk-Topalov ½-½
Ljubojevic-Van Wely 0-1
Karpov-Shirov ½-½
Anand-Almasi ½-½
Gelfand-Kramnik ½-½ |
Blindfold
Piket-Leko 1-0
Topalov-Ivanchuk ½-½
Van Wely-Ljubojevic 0-1
Shirov-Karpov 1-0
Almasi-Anand ½-½
Kramnik-Gelfand 1-0 |
GM Gausel annotates Round 7 highlights
Round 8, March 25
Rapid
Shirov-Gelfand ½-½
Van Wely-Anand ½-½
Kramnik-Ivanchuk 1-0
Almasi-Leko 1-0
Topalov-Karpov 1-0
Piket-Ljubojevic 1-0 |
Blindfold
Gelfand-Shirov 0-1
Anand-Van Wely 1-0
Ivanchuk-Kramnik ½-½
Leko-Almasi 1-0
Karpov-Topalov 0-1
Ljubojevic-Piket ½-½ |
GM Gausel annotates Round 8 highlights
*****
Round 9, March 27
Rapid
Anand-Topalov 0-1
Gelfand-Piket 1-0
Leko-Shirov ½-½
Ivanchuk-Van Wely 1-0
Ljubojevic-Kramnik 0-1
Karpov-Almasi 1-0 |
Blindfold
Topalov-Anand ½-½
Piket-Gelfand ½-½
Shirov-Leko 1-0
Van Wely-Ivanchuk 1-0
Kramnik-Ljubojevic 1-0
Almasi-Karpov 1-0 |
GM Gausel annotates Round 9 highlights
*****
Round 10, March 28
Rapid
Piket-Ivanchuk ½-½
Topalov-Leko ½-½
Van Wely-Karpov ½-½
Shirov-Ljubojevic 0-1
Almasi-Gelfand ½-½
Kramnik-Anand ½-½ |
Blindfold
Ivanchuk-Piket ½-½
Leko-Topalov 0-1
Karpov-Van Wely ½-½
Ljubojevic-Shirov ½-½
Gelfand-Almasi ½-½
Anand-Kramnik ½-½ |
GM Gausel annotates Round 10 highlights
*****
Round 11, March 29
Rapid
Ljubojevic-Topalov ½-½
Karpov-Piket ½-½
Anand-Shirov ½-½
Gelfand-Van Wely 1-0
Leko-Kramnik ½-½
Ivanchuk-Almasi 1-0 |
Blindfold
Topalov-Ljubojevic ½-½
Piket-Karpov ½-½
Shirov-Anand ½-½
Van Wely-Gelfand 0-1
Kramnik-Leko ½-½
Almasi-Ivanchuk 1-0 |
GM Gausel annotates Round 11 highlights
|
Melody Amber Rapid
& Blindfold,
Monte
Carlo - March 2001
|
| |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
R |
B |
Total |
| Kramnik |
K |
K |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
| Anand |
½ |
½ |
A |
A |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
13½ |
| Shirov |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
S |
S |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
11½ |
| Leko |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
L |
L |
1 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
11 |
| Ivanchuk |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
I |
I |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
9 |
| Topalov |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
T |
T |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
½ |
1 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
1 |
˝ |
˝ |
15 |
| Gelfand |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
G |
G |
½ |
½ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
11 |
| Karpov |
½ |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
K |
K |
½ |
½ |
˝ |
˝ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
9 |
| Van Wely |
½ |
0 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
½ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
W |
W |
½ |
½ |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
7½ |
| Piket |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
˝ |
˝ |
½ |
½ |
P |
P |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
10½ |
| Almasi |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
0 |
A |
A |
0 |
1 |
9½ |
| Ljubojevic |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
1 |
˝ |
˝ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
½ |
1 |
0 |
L |
L |
9½ |
Rapid standings:
Blindfold standings:
|
|
