Front Page

National News:
Almost 500 Compete in Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships

St. Bernard Chess League hosts lecture, exhibition

World News:
Anand Dominating Amber Tournament

Chess In the Media: Chess Stories Across the USA and Around the World

Index to Newsletters

Chess Around the World

Our series on the career of Garry Kasparov will continue in next week's issue. We apologize for the delay.

Anand Dominating Amber Tournament

With the retirement of Garry Kasparov, there has been much speculation as to who will take up the reigns as the world's best player. The leading candidate might be Viswanathan Anand, and his performance so far in Monaco has done nothing to hurt his cause.

Anand won his first 7 games at the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament, before finally conceding a rapid draw to Vladimir Kramnik in the 4th rapid round to take a commanding lead over the rest of the field. With 7.5 points, Anand holds a 2 point advantage over his nearest rivals, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Morozovich.

What makes Amber one of the year's most popular events is the format. Each day consists of the grandmasters playing two games: one rapid game, and one blindfold game. Currently, Anand holds a clear lead in both formats; his perfect 4/4 in the blindfold portion is a point better than Kramnik, and his 3.5/4 in rapid games is a half-point better than both Morozevich and Ivanchuk.

Peter Svidler and Peter Leko are currently tied for 4th in the overall standings with 5 points, while Kramnik is in 6th with 3.5.

The Amber tournament runs until March 31st, with two rest days. We will be providing complete coverage in upcoming issues. For now, here is one of Anand's rapid wins:

White: Anand, V (2786)
Black: Topalov, V (2757)
Amber Round 2 (Rapid)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 h6 10. h3 Bd7 11. Bf4 Kc8 12. Rad1 b6 13. Rd3 Be6 14. Rfd1 Kb7 15. b3 g5 16. Bc1 c5 17. Nd5 Ne7 18. Nxe7 Bxe7 19. c4 Rag8 20. Nd2 g4 21. hxg4 Rxg4 22. Nf1 Rhg8 23. Rg3 h5 24. Re1 a6 25. Rxg4 hxg4 26. Rd1 Kc6 27. Bf4 Rd8 28. Rxd8 Bxd8 29. Ne3 b5 30. Kf1 bxc4 31. bxc4 Kb6 32. Ke2 Ka5 33. Kd3 c6 34. f3 gxf3 35. gxf3 Ka4 36. Bh6 Ka3 37. f4 Kxa2 38. Kc2 f5 39. Bf8 Bb6 40. Be7 a5 41. Bh4 a4 42. Be1 Bd8 43. Nd1 Ka3 44. Nb2 Be7 45. Bc3 Bf8 46. Nd3 1-0