Viswanathan Anand was held to a draw in both his games by a resolute Magnus Carlsen in the sixth round of his Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament.
The draws kept Anand in shared top place in Rapid, but he continued to languish in blindfold and therefore was in the middle of the pack in combined standings.
Vladimir Kramnik bounced back from his unexpected defeat in fifth round as he beat Lev Aronian 1.5-0.5 in sixth round. Kramnik won in blindfold, where he has a fantastic score of 5.5 out of six and with three out of six in rapid he is back in the saddle at 8.5 points.
Ivanchuk was lucky to draw his mini-match against Peter Svidler and is now in second place, half a point behind Kramnik. Kramnik keeps impressing in the blindfold, where his score is now 5.5 out of 6. Anand and Levon Aronian top the rapid standings with 4.5 out of 6
Aronian was third with 7.5 points and Anand was tied fourth with Peter Svidler with seven points.
Anand had recently beaten Carlsen in both games in Morelia-Amber, so it would have been expected that he would at least win one of the games.
Anand had expected an Open Ruy Lopez in his blindfold game against Magnus Carlsen but was taken by surprise by the Sicilian variation they got on the board.
Anand said he had a similar opening four years ago with Leko and did not remember anything, but what he did remember was that there was a new move on 18th.
He said, "After which there may be something for White (Anand) if he follows a very precise path, or there is nothing." However after 29 moves Anand came to the conclusion that in this game at any rate there was nothing and he proposed a draw.
In the rapid game for a long time looked like a model game by Anand, who gradually outplayed Carlsen with the black pieces.
But exactly when White seemed to be about to collapse, Carlsen produced 39.Kg2!, a move that his opponent described as a 'fantastic resource'. Anand delved into the position, but no matter how he tried and calculated, he could not find a win. Anand tried for ten more moves, but then he resigned himself to the draw.
Kramnik bounced back after his poor performance of yesterday with a smooth win over Aronian in their blindfold game. The Armenian grandmaster was comfortable in the opening and forcibly lost a pawn after 16 Bb7. Kramnik converted the advantage with a steady hand and won easily.
In the rapid game the roles were reversed. In the opening Kramnik was fine, but when he played 20 Nc5 he ended up in a worse position.
After 20 Nc7 chances would have been approximately equal. Once he lost the exchange Kramnik was in serious trouble. However he hung and saved the half point with a draw.
Results Round 6: Blindfold: Kramnik beat Aronian; Van Wely drew with Leko; Morozevich drew with Gelfand; Anand drew with Carlsen; Ivanchuk drew with Svidler; Radjabov beat Vallejo.
Results Round 6: Rapid: Aronian drew with Kramnik; Leko beat Van Wely; Gelfand drew with Morozevich; Carlsen drew with Anand; Svidler drew with Ivanchuk; Vallejo drew with Radjabov
Round 6 Standings: Blindfold: 1. Kramnik 5.5; 2. Ivanchuk, Svidler and Gelfand 4.0; 5. Aronian, Leko and Radjabov 3.0; 8. Morozevich and Anand 2.5; 10. Carlsen 2.0; 11. Van Wely 1.5; 12. Vallejo Pons 1.0.
Round 6 Standings: Rapid: 1. Aronian and Anand 4.5; 3. Ivanchuk 4.0; 4. Leko 3.5; 5. Carlsen, Svidler, Kramnik and Morozevich 3.0; 9. Vallejo Pons 2.5; 10. Gelfand and Radjabov 2.0; 12. Van Wely 1.0
Round 6 Standings: Combined: 1. Kramnik 8.5; 2. Ivanchuk 8.0; 3. Aronian 7.5; 4. Svidler and Anand 7.0; 6. Leko 6.5; 7. Gelfand 6.0; 8. Morozevich 5.5; 9. Carlsen and Radjabov 5.0; 11. Vallejo Pons 3.5; 12. Van Wely 2.5
More from rediff