R11: 4 share 1st prize blindfold

Aronian has won Amber 2008 but we knew that already. Kramnik ended second on tiebreak and Leko third. Aronian also won the rapid tournament of course (a major part of his combined success) and together with Kramnik, Morozevich and Topalov he also ended shared first in the blindfold section. Lots of draws on the final day of course, but Topalov-Ivanchuk and Gelfand-Mamedyarov were attractive final matches. full story »

R10: Aronian wins indeed, already

Thanks to two quick draws against Kramnik, Aronian today secured clear first place at the Amber Tournament with a round to spare, because main competitors Carlsen and Leko also drew twice. full story »

R9: Aronian is going to win this one

After he beat Morozevich 2-0 today, Aronian is almost sure of winning Amber 2008. Carlsen lost 1½-½ to Kramnik, and Anand also went down, against Ivanchuk. full story »

R8: Aronian & Carlsen score again

Only twice a 2-0 score was seen at this Amber tournament so far, and both times it was Magnus Carlsen who did it. Today Mamedyarov was his victim. Aronian is clear favorite now, after beating Anand 1½-½ today. full story »

R7: Aronian increases lead

The top match Aronian-Topalov was won by the Armenian, who thus increased his lead to a full point again at the Amber tournament. Kramnik was held 1-1 by (former?) second Van Wely and Carlsen did the same against Anand. full story »

R6: day of draws

And suddenly the Amber tournament saw a bit of a boring day. From a total of twelve games, no less than ten ended in a draw. In the blindfold session, Anand beat Karjakin with Black and Morozevich defeated Van Wely, also with Black. full story »

R5: Aronian leads by a point

What a tournament so far, this Amber 2008, wow. Round 5 saw Morozevich crushing Anand, Carlsen doing the same to Gelfand (both blindfold!), Kramnik defeating Topalov with a queen sacrifice (1½-½)… Another great round. full story »

R4: Leko beats Anand (update)

In a slightly chaotic fourth round of the Amber tournament, the most notable result was Anand-Leko ½-1½. Van Wely won again, this time against Gelfand, after irregularities in both their blindfold and rapid games. full story »

R3: Anand grabs sole lead

Two draws against Topalov were enough for Anand to grab sole lead in the combined standings of Amber 2008, since Aronian and Ivanchuk lost their mini matches 1½-½ against Gelfand and Van Wely respectively. full story »

R2: Magnus beats Loek twice

Today KingLoek experienced how strong Carlsen has become in such a short time: 2-0 for Magnus. Anand, Aronian, Ivanchuk and Kramnik won their minimatches 1½-½. full story »

First videos from Nice

At the Amber tournament, both Macauley and me are making videos for the tournament website. Naturally, you can see them here at ChessVibes as well. full story »

R1: Anand beats Kramnik

Although the Amber tournament is known as a friendly event, and there isn’t a single rating point involved, the players did show great fighting spirit already in the first round. Anand won his mini match against Kramnik 1½-½. full story »

Opening Amber 2008

Yesterday night a cheerful and chique opening ceremony took place - as can be expected with a prestigious tournament like Amber. A photo report. full story »

Amber starts with Anand-Kramnik

ChessVibes has arrived in Nice, France. To be exact: Hotel Palais de la Mediterranée, where tomorrow the 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament starts. We’ll be providing on-the-spot coverage throughout the tournament. Pairings first round: Anand-Kramnik. All details can be found at this page.

All information Melody Amber

The 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament is held from March 15 to March 27 (last round) at the five-star luxury Hotel Palais de la Mediterranée, ideally situated at the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice.

Twelve top grandmasters from ten different countries take part and the total prize-fund is 216,000 Euro. The Amber tournament is organised by the Association Max Euwe in Monaco and generously sponsored by Mr and Mrs Van Oosterom.

The Amber tournament is one of the most prestigious chess events in the world and the only one in which half of the games are played blindfold, i.e. without the players seeing board and pieces. ChessVibes will be in Nice throughout the tournament, presenting on-the-spot coverage, stories, interviews and videos.

Amber 2008 | Blind | Final Standings       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2     1 Kramnik 2799 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 6.5/11 36.00 2 Aronian 2739 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 6.5/11 36.00 3 Morozevich 2765 0 0 * 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 6.5/11 34.25 4 Topalov 2780 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6.5/11 34.00 5 Leko 2753 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 6.0/11 31.50 6 Anand 2799 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 6.0/11 30.50 7 Carlsen 2733 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 1 1 0 1 1 6.0/11 30.25 8 Karjakin 2732 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 5.0/11 26.00 9 Van Wely 2681 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 1 5.0/11 25.00 10 Ivanchuk 2751 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ 4.5/11 25.00 11 Mamedyarov 2760 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 * 1 4.5/11 22.75 12 Gelfand 2737 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 * 3.0/11

Amber 2008 | Rapid | Final Standings       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2     1 Aronian 2739 * 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 8.0/11   2 Ivanchuk 2751 0 * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 6.5/11   3 Gelfand 2737 1 0 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ 6.0/11 33.25 4 Leko 2753 ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 6.0/11 32.00 5 Carlsen 2733 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 6.0/11 30.50 6 Kramnik 2799 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 5.5/11 31.25 7 Topalov 2780 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 1 1 5.5/11 26.75 8 Anand 2799 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 ½ * 1 1 ½ ½ 5.0/11   9 Mamedyarov 2760 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 4.5/11 25.00 10 Morozevich 2765 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 ½ 4.5/11 23.75 11 Karjakin 2732 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 4.5/11 23.50 12 Van Wely 2681 0 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 * 4.0/11

Amber 2008 | Combined | Final Standings       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2     1 Aronian 2739 ** ½½ ½½ ½1 ½1 ½1 1½ 11 ½1 ½0 ½½ ½1 14.5/22   2 Kramnik 2799 ½½ ** ½1 ½1 1½ ½½ ½0 1½ ½½ ½½ ½0 ½½ 12.0/22 133.50 3 Leko 2753 ½½ ½0 ** 0½ ½½ ½½ ½1 ½1 ½½ ½½ 1½ 1½ 12.0/22 128.00 4 Topalov 2780 ½0 ½0 1½ ** ½½ 10 ½½ 01 ½1 ½½ 1½ ½1 12.0/22 126.50 5 Carlsen 2733 ½0 0½ ½½ ½½ ** 0½ 01 ½½ 10 1½ 11 11 12.0/22 123.75 6 Ivanchuk 2751 ½0 ½½ ½½ 01 1½ ** ½1 0½ ½1 ½1 0½ ½0 11.0/22 120.00 7 Anand 2799 0½ ½1 ½0 ½½ 10 ½0 ** 01 1½ 10 ½1 ½½ 11.0/22 117.50 8 Morozevich 2765 00 0½ ½0 10 ½½ 1½ 10 ** ½1 ½1 ½½ 1½ 11.0/22 113.75 9 Karjakin 2732 ½0 ½½ ½½ ½0 01 ½0 0½ ½0 ** 1½ ½½ ½1 9.5/22   10 Gelfand 2737 ½1 ½½ ½½ ½½ 0½ ½0 01 ½0 0½ ** 01 0½ 9.0/22 104.00 11 Mamedyarov 2760 ½½ ½1 0½ 0½ 00 1½ ½0 ½½ ½½ 10 ** 0½ 9.0/22 100.50 12 Van Wely 2681 ½0 ½½ 0½ ½0 00 ½1 ½½ 0½ ½0 1½ 1½ ** 9.0/22 96.00

Kramnik wins by two points

Not a surprise anymore: Kramnik has won the Melody Amber Tournament. The difference with runner-up Anand was two points. Kramnik’s glorious victory in the blind tournament, with 9 out of 11, is the basis of his overall win. Anand won the rapid tournament with 8,5 out of 11. Ivanchuk is still a great player, ending third in the combined standings. Carlsen’s shared second spot in the rapid is noteworthy too. full story »

Kramnik consolidates, Radjabov wins 2-0

With two draws against Svidler, Kramnik consolidated his lead today. Theoretically speaking Ivanchuk and Anand, who also drew twice against respectively Gelfand and Leko, can still finish shared first with him, but in any case Kramnik’s tournament victory is certain. The most notable player of the day was Radjabov, who beat Aronian twice. full story »

Carlsen stands firm, Van Wely wins

Magnus Carlsen stood firm today against Vladimir Kramnik and he managed to draw the blindfold game. He did loose lose the rapid game and because Anand played 1-1 against Aronian, Kramnik is now two points ahead of Anand and Ivanchuk in the combined standings. Loek van Wely won his first minimatch (1,5-0,5 against Peter Svidler) and isn’t in last position anymore. Radjabov is still having a hard time in Monaco. full story »

The king of blindfold chess

Might he have a natural talent for it? Or did he spent lots of hours in trains, in his childhood, where he was bored and played games against himself for hours? Whatever the reason, Vladimir Kramnik is not only world champion but also the king of blindfold chess. In a super strong field he now has the monster score of 7,5 out of 8. Anand leads the rapid with 6,5 out of 8 and is now clear second in the combined standings. full story »

Kramnik even more

And he goes on and on. Vladimir Kramnik is in very good form in Monaco. Today he pushed away Peter Leko with 2-0, thereby improving his blindfold score to an impressive 6,5 out of 7 and increasing his overall lead. So far Anand is the best rapid player with 5,5 out of 7. full story »

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