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Anand Runs Away with Amber Title

Retired Kasparov still tops FIDE List

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The third and final portion of our look at Garry Kasparov's career will appear in next week's issue.

Anand Runs Away with Amber Title

With the outcome never in doubt, Viswanathan Anand claimed the 2005 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament championship over a field of chess stars. Anand scored an impressive 15.5 out of a possible 22 points, winning both the rapid and blindfold portions of the match.

Anand won an easy victory, clinching clear first place with a round still to play. His closest competitor, Alexander Morozevich, finished with 13 points - 2.5 behind the leader. Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko tied for 3rd with 12.

In rapid play, Anand has proven to be nearly unstoppable - and the Amber tournament was no exception. Anand finished with 7.5/11 in the rapid portion, a half-point ahead of Morozevich. Alexei Shirov took 3rd with 6.5 points.

Surprisingly, Anand was even more dominating in blindfold play. His score of 8/11 was two points ahead of his nearest competitors. A group of five players tied for second in blindfold competition, with Morozevich, Leko, Ivanchuk, Veselin Topalov and Francisco Vallejo Pons all scoring 6/11.

Here are the complete final combined results:

Anand, Viswanathan: 15.5
Morozevich, Alexander: 13.0
Leko, Peter: 12.0
Ivanchuk, Vassily: 12.0
Kramnik, Vladimir: 11.5
Svidler, Peter: 11.0
Topalov, Veselin: 11.0
Shirov, Alexei: 11.0
Gelfand, Boris: 10.0
Vallejo Pons, Francisco: 9.5
Bareev, Evgeny: 8.0
Van Wely, Loek: 7.5

Here is a blindfold win by Anand over Van Wely from round 9.

White: Van Wely, L (2749)
Black: Anand, V (2786)
Amber Tournament, Round 9 (Blindfold)
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Qxc3 b6 7. b4 a5 8. Bb2 axb4 9. axb4 Rxa1+ 10. Bxa1 c5 11. g3 d6 12. Bg2 e5 13. b5 Re8 14. O-O Nbd7 15. d3 Bb7 16. Bb2 Nf8 17. Ra1 Ne6 18. e3 Qb8 19. Qa3 Qc7 20. Qb3 Ra8 21. Rxa8+ Bxa8 22. Qa3 Qb8 23. e4 Bb7 24. Bh3 Bc8 25. Bc1 h6 26. Kg2 Bd7 27. Be3 Nd4 28. Bxd7 Nxd7 29. Nxd4 exd4 30. Bf4 g5 31. Bd2 f5 32. f3 fxe4 33. dxe4 Ne5 34. f4 Nxc4 35. Qa2 d5 36. exd5 Nxd2 37. Qxd2 Qa8 38. Qe2 Qxd5+ 39. Kf2 d3 40. Qe7 d2 41. Qe8+ Kg7 42. Qe7+ Kg6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44. Qc8+ Ke4 45. Qe8+ Kd3 0-1

Retired Kasparov still tops FIDE List

Despite his recent retirement, Garry Kasparov still remains in the top spot of the latest FIDE rating list. Kasparov, who will remain on the list until he goes a year without a rated game, gained 8 points since the January list, to improve his rating to 2812.

Viswanathan Anand lost a point to slip to 2785, but still holds a slim lead on the #2 spot over Bulgarian Veselin Topalov (2778). Anand has been the world's second-rated player since April 2004.

World Champion Vladimir Kramnik continued to slip down the ratings list, falling to #5, trading places with his former challenger, Peter Leko. Farther down the list, Judit Polgar reentered the top 10 by ending her hiatus from chess earlier this year. She sits in eighth position, with a rating of 2732.

Here is the complete top 10 list:

Kasparov, Garry - 2812
Viswanathan, Anand - 2785
Topalov, Veselin - 2778
Leko, Peter - 2763
Kramnik, Vladimir - 2753
Ivanchuk, Vassily - 2739
Adams, Michael - 2737
Polgar, Judit - 2732
Bacrot, Etienne - 2731
Svidler, Peter - 2725