The event is staged in great luxury every year in the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel
in Monaco, sponsored by the Dutch billionaire J.J. van Oosterom, with a total
prize fund is €216,000. The event is named after the sponsor's eldest daughter.
Vishy Anand and Alexander Morozevich are the joint winners of the 15th Amber
Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament. In a gripping last round Morozevich caught
up with Anand by beating Loek van Wely 1.5-0.5, while Anand drew his last mini-match
with Veselin Topalov, 1-1.
For Anand this is his fifth Amber victory, for Morozevich it’s the third
time that he wins in Monaco.
Anand proved the best in the rapid competition, assembling an impressive 8
points from 11 games. The Indian didn’t lose a single rapid game. Morozevich’s
win in the blindfold was even more stunning. The Russian scored an incredible
9.5 out of 11, a new record in the history of the Amber tournaments.
In the overall scores both Anand and Morozevich had 14.5/22 points. Anand has
two losses on the scoreboard, Morozevich four. In the tables given below the
regular tiebreaks were applied, which puts Morozevich ahead of Anand. But these
were not applicable to the unusual game format. Both players are given on the
official site as co-winners.
Behind the two we find Francisco Vallejo and Alexander Grischuk, 2.5 and 3.0
points behind the leaders. Half a point behind them are Veselin Topalov and
Peter Leko.
Round 8 Blindfold (March 26, 2006)
Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 Topalov, Veselin
Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 Van Wely, Loek
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 Nielsen, Peter Heine
Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 Aronian, Levon
Gelfand, Boris 1/2 Leko, Peter
Svidler, Peter 1-0 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Round 8 Rapid (March 26, 2006)
Topalov, Veselin 1/2 Morozevich, Alexander
Aronian, Levon 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 Svidler, Peter
Van Wely, Loek 0-1 Anand, Viswanathan
Leko, Peter 0-1 Gelfand, Boris
Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 Vallejo Pons, Francisco
Round 9 Blindfold (March 28, 2006)
Leko, Peter 0-1 Morozevich, Alexander
Van Wely, Loek 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander
Topalov, Veselin 0-1 Svidler, Peter
Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 Anand, Viswanathan
Aronian, Levon 0-1 Gelfand, Boris
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 Vallejo Pons, Francisco
Round 9 Rapid (March 28, 2006)
Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 Nielsen, Peter Heine
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1/2 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 Van Wely, Loek
Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 Leko, Peter
Gelfand, Boris 0-1 Aronian, Levon
Svidler, Peter 0-1 Topalov, Veselin
Round 10 Blindfold (March 29, 2006)
Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 Aronian, Levon
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0 Van Wely, Loek
Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 Leko, Peter
Gelfand, Boris 1/2 Topalov, Veselin
Svidler, Peter 1-0 Nielsen, Peter Heine
Round 10 Rapid (March 29, 2006)
Topalov, Veselin 1-0 Gelfand, Boris
Aronian, Levon 1/2 Anand, Viswanathan
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Morozevich, Alexander
Van Wely, Loek 1-0 Vallejo Pons, Francisco
Leko, Peter 1/2 Grischuk, Alexander
Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 Svidler, Peter
Round 11 Blindfold (March 30, 2006)
Leko, Peter 1-0 Vallejo Pons, Francisco
Van Wely, Loek 0-1 Morozevich, Alexander
Topalov, Veselin 1/2 Anand, Viswanathan
Nielsen, Peter Heine 1/2 Gelfand, Boris
Aronian, Levon 1-0 Svidler, Peter
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 Grischuk, Alexander
Round 11 Rapid (March 30, 2006)
Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 Topalov, Veselin
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1/2 Leko, Peter
Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Morozevich, Alexander 1/2 Van Wely, Loek
Gelfand, Boris 1-0 Nielsen, Peter Heine
Svidler, Peter 0-1 Aronian, Levon