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Anand wins rapid title at Amber, in joint fourth spot overall

Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand grabbed the rapid chess title with a last-round draw against Vassily Ivanchuk in just 15 moves, but lost the blindfold game in the 11th and final round of the eighth Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Tournament at the Metropole Palace Hotel in Monaco.

Anand had 7.5 points out of eleven in rapid play and 11.5 from 22 for fourth place overall.

Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik held on to his lead and duly won the overall honours. He drew his final two games in the 11th round against Frenchman Joel Lautier to tally 14.5 points and finish half a point ahead of Alexi Shirov of Spain and Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov.

Both Shirov and Topalov had last round successes, but that was still insufficient to make a bid for a share of the top spot. Both needed 2-0 wins to join Kramnik at the top, but managed only 1.5-0.5 verdicts.

Anand's defeat in the blindfold version allowed Lautier, who had two draws against Kramnik, to join the Indian ace in the overall fourth spot.

Kramnik, Shirov and Topalov shared the top spot in blindfold with eight out of eleven points each, while Lautier was 1.5 points behind them.

Anand secured his victory in the rapid standings by accepting an early draw offered by Ivanchuk, who was eagerly awaiting the end of the tournament, in which he had had a roller-coaster ride. The draw came in just 15 moves from a Nimzo Indian.

In the blindfold version, Ivanchuk won smoothly with black against Anand, who seemed to want to go through the motions and end the tournament. The game went to 36 moves from a Petroff Defence.

The playing schedule was modified to have the three players contending for first place in the same session. Theoretically, before the start of the 11th round, Kramnik could have been caught by both Shirov and Topalov, who were only a point behind him.

So, the last round was given some drama when Dutchman Jeroen Piket kept the tension in the tournament by missing a simple draw in an ending with four bishops. Shirov won in 49 moves from the Gruenfeld Indian.

That result meant that if he won his blindfold game and Kramnik once again drew his game, Shirov would get a share of the top place in overall standings.

In rapid play, Lautier with white and Kramnik drew in 26 moves of a Queen's Gambit Declined. Kramnik forced a perpetual check soon after the Queen's Gambit opening against Lautier.

In blindfold, too, Kramnik forced a draw by perpetual check for the second time. The game lasted 24 moves from Queen's Gambit Accepted. When Kramnik had to take the decision for a draw, he could not take a look at Shirov's game. But he could relax after a quarter of an hour, because Piket did not allow the Spanish Grandmaster a second win. The Dutchman won back the pawn he had sacrificed in the opening without allowing Shirov a dangerous initiative. The point was split after 31 moves from a Ruy Lopez.

As Kramnik relaxed with the assurance of an outright top placing, Anatoly Karpov collapsed, allowing a decisive bishop sacrifice against Topalov in blindfold section. This win earned Topalov a shared second place with Shirov.

Earlier in the rapid section, Topalov had managed to gain an advantage, but was unable to convert it into a win and had to be satisfied with a draw.

Rapidplay standing: 1. Anand 7.5; 2. Kramnik 6.5; 3. Ljubojevic 6.0; 4. Topalov 6.0; 5. Shirov 6.0; 6. Karpov 5.5; 7. Van Wely 5.5; 8. Piket 5.0; 9. Lautier 5.0; 10. Gelfand 4.5; 11. Ivanchuk 4.5; 12. Nikolic 4.0

Blindfold standings: 1. Shirov 8.0; 2. Topalov 8.0; 3. Kramnik 8.0; 4. Lautier 6.5; 5. Nikolic 5.5; 6. Karpov 5.5; 7. Ivanchuk 5.0; 8. Gelfand 4.5; 9. Piket 4.0; 10. Anand 4.0; 11. Ljubojevic 3.5; 12. Van Wely 3.5.

Overall standings: 1. Kramnik 14.5; 2.Topalov 14.0; 3. Shirov 14.0; 4. Anand 11.5; 5. Lautier 11.5; 6. Karpov 11.0; 7. Nikolic 9.5; 8. Ljubojevic 9.5; 9. Ivanchuk 9.5; 10. Piket 9.0; 11. Gelfand 9.0; 12. Van Wely 9.0.

UNI