ARONIAN WINS AMBER BLINDFOLD AND RAPID CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

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March 27 2009

In the eleventh and final round, Levon Aronian drew in both the
games against Topalov to win the 18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid
Tournament. The Armenian grandmaster, survived scary moments in his
blindfold game against Veselin Topalov and next comfortably drew the
rapid game to take the title. Report with games and videos.

Second place was shared by Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. The World
Champion defeated Wang Yue 1½-½, while his predecessor routed Peter
Leko 2-0.

In the blindfold competition three players shared first place. Magnus
Carlsen, who had long dominated the competition, lost his last game and
this allowed Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik to catch up with him.

The rapid competition also ended in a three-way tie for first. This
year the best rapid players were Vishy Anand, Levon Aronian and
Gata Kamsky.

The 18th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament, organized by the
Association Max Euwe in Monaco is taking place from 14 – 26 March at
the Palais de la Mediterranee, located on the famous Promenade des
Anglais in Nice, France. The total prize-fund is â~B¬ 216,000. This
year’s field is stronger than ever with all the world’s best players
taking part. Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold
sessions and two rapid sessions.