Anand bags third spot

Anand bags third spot
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Monte carlo, March 30: World champion Viswanathan Anand had to content himself with the third position in the over all standings after an uneventful last round in the 10th Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament which concluded here on Friday.

Grandmaster Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Braingames match winner GM Vladimir Kramnik of Russia shared the top honours after drawing their last round encounters 1-1. Both Kramnik and Topalov finished with a tally of 15 points out of a possible 22 from 11 mini matches. Anand totaled 13.5 points for his unshared third place while last year’s winner GM Alexei Shirov of Spain finished joint fourth on 11.5 points.

For Kramnik, this is the fourth title triumph in this unique event that features one blindfold and one rapid game in each round. Topalov has made his maiden entry in the winner’s list.

There were two winners in the rapid section as Boris Gelfand of Israel caught up with Kramnik at the top on 7.5 points. Gelfand, whose form in the blindfold raised many an eyebrow, made up for his lapses with a comprehensive victory over GM Loek Van Wely of Netherlands.

In the blindfold section Gelfand finished in a tie for 10th place. Topalov finished third in the rapid standings on 7 points and Anand was declared fourth on 6.5 points. In the blindfold section Topalov was a big winner on 8 points and it was his exploits here that won him quite a few accolades. Kramnik came a clear second on 7.5 points while Anand showed his consistency in finishing joint third with Shirov on 7 points.

Overall standings: 1-2. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 15 points; 3. Viswanathan Anand (India) 13.5 points; 4. Alexei Shirov (Spain (11.5 points); 5-6 Boris Gelfand (Israel), Peter Leko (Hungary) 11 points; 7. Jeroen Piket (Netherlands) 10.5 po ints; 8-9. Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia), Zoltan Almasi (Hungary) 9.5 points; 10-11. Anatoly Karpov (Russia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 9 points; 12. Loek Van Wely (Netherlands) 7.5 points.