Anand beats Topalov in Amber opener

Monaco, Mar 13 (PTI) World Champion Viswanathan Anand
defeated challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria 1.5-0.5 in the
first round of the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament
here.
Anand got off to a flier in the final edition of this
unique event winning the blindfold game with white pieces and
signed peace in the rapid to get another good result against
Topalov, who did not figure in any super tournaments in the
past few months.
The shocker of the opener came from Alexander Grischuk of
Russia who defeated compatriot and former world champion
Vladimir Kramnik in both the games to emerge as one of the
joint leaders.
Levon Aronian of Armenia, Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan
and Boris Gelfand of Israel were the other players who came
out with a 2-0 rout of their opponents and now jointly share
the early lead with Grischuk.
Aronian accounted for Anish Giri of Holland, Gelfand
outplayed Russian Sergey Karjakin while Gashimov also scored
upset victories over Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine.
With four players in front and 20 games still remaining
in this 12-players double round robin event with one blindfold
and one rapid game in each round, Anand shares the fifth spot
along with Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who scored a similar
victory against Tata Steel tournament winner Hikaru Nakamura
of the United States.
Anand and Topalov met again for the first time after
their World Championship match last year in Sofia. The
blindfold was a Berlin Defence where the Bulgaria played black
and initially little was happening.
Although there was not too much going on not all roads
were leading to a draw and after the game the World Champion
condemned Black's decision to exchange his final pair of
rooks.
White was soon in a very comfortable position and Anand
kept trying for more without the slightest risk. Anand was
critical of his decision on move 47 when he went for a
capture, instead of first improving his position but despite
this rash decision he managed to win an important point.
The rapid game between the two ended in a draw.
"It was one of those games where you make a couple of
solid moves and that's enough," Anand said.
For the records it was a Queen's gambit declined by
Anand as black and Topalov still could not find a way to
effectively tackle the opening.
It may be recalled that Anand had used the same opening
to win the all-important 12th game of the last world
championship.
Results Round 1:
Blindfold: Vishwanathan Anand (Ind) beat Veselin Topalov
(Bul); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) lost to Magnus Carlsen (Nor);
Levon Aronian (Arm) beat Anish Giri (Ned); Vassily Ivanchuk
(Ukr) lost to Vugar Gashimov (Aze); Sergey Karjakin (Rus) lost
to Boris Gelfand (Isr); Alexander Grischuk (Rus) beat Vladimir
Kramnik (Rus).
Rapid: Carlsen beat Nakamura; Giri lost to Aronian;
Gashimov beat Ivanchuk; Gelfand beat Karjakin; Kramnik lost to
Grischuk; Topalov drew with Anand.
Overall standings after Round 1: 1-4 Aronian, Gashimov,
Gelfand, Grischuk (2 points each); 5-6 Anand, Carlsen (1.5
each); 7-8 Topalov, Nakamura (0.5 each); 9-12 Kramnik, Giri,
Ivanchuk, Karjakin.