Amber 2011 R8: Aronian leads half point ahead of Carlsen

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Going into the second rest day of the tournament, leader Levon Aronian maintained his half-point lead with Magnus Carlsen following close behind. The rest of the pack was quite a bit away! The eighth round saw draws all around.

The 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament takes place at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort in Monaco, from March 11 to 25, 2011. The tournament is organized by the Association Max Euwe of chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom, which is based in Monaco. This 20th Amber tournament is the final edition of an event unparalleled in the history of chess. The total prize-fund is € 227,000. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added. Full schedule here.

Sunday, March 20, Round 8
14.30	Blindfold	Grischuk ½-½ Nakamura	Anand ½-½ Aronian	Gelfand ½-½ Ivanchuk
16.00		Kramnik ½-½ Gashimov	Karjakin ½-½ Giri	Topalov ½-½ Carlsen
17.45	Rapid	Nakamura 1-0 Grischuk	Aronian 1-0 Anand	Ivanchuk 1-0 Gelfand
19.15		Gashimov 1-0 Kramnik	Giri 1-0 Karjakin	Carlsen 1-0 Topalov

You can find a very nice detailed report of all the games at the official website.

Standings after the eighth round

Blindfold		Rapid		Combined
1. Aronian 6 2. Anand 4½ Carlsen 4½ Grischuk 4½ 3. Gashimov 4 Gelfand 4 Karjakin 4 4. Topalov 4 Ivanchuk 3½ Nakamura 3½ Giri 3 5. Kramnik 2½		1. Carlsen 6½ 2. Aronian 5½ 3. Ivanchuk 5 4. Anand 4 Gashimov 4 Nakamura 4 5. Grischuk 3½ Topalov 3½ 6. Gelfand 3 Giri 3 Karjakin 3 Kramnik 3		1. Aronian 11½ 2. Carlsen 11 3. Anand 8½ Ivanchuk 8½ 4. Gashimov 8 Grischuk 8 5. Nakamura 7½ Topalov 7½ 6. Gelfand 7 Karjakin 7 7. Giri 6 8. Kramnik 5½

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