Morozevich and Anand win Melody Amber

by ChessBase
3/30/2006 – Vishy Anand did it for the fifth time, Alexander Morozevich for the third (in just five appearances). The two shared first at the 15th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament in Monaco, with a score of 14.5/22. Two points later we find Francisco Vallejo, with Grischuk, Topalov and Leko following. Final report.

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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.

Morozevich and Anand win Amber

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.


V ishy Anand, five-time winner of Monaco


Morozevich winning his last-round blindfold game to catch Anand

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.


Francisco Vallejo with Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov

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.


Replacement player Alexander Grischuk finished fourth

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.

Results

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

Standings

Blindfold

Rapid

Combined

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