Turning in yet another fine display with one win and one draw, Viswanathan Anand climbed back to the familiar number one spot, though shared with two others at the end of the fourth round of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament in Monaco, France. The Indian ace, scored 1.5 out of two against Loek Van Wely and joined Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko on top of the heap with 5.5 points in combined standings.
Anand is however the sole leader in Rapid standings with an excellent 3.5 out of four in four rapid games. Peter Svidler and Peter Leko, with three wins in four games lead the Blindfold standings.
Loek Van Wely recovering from his 0-2 loss to Bareev in the third round, was content to hold Anand to a draw in Blindfold. Anand, too, looked happy enough playing with black in the Nimzo Indian. The game was drawn in 38 moves.
But in the Rapid, Anand was again at his best. The Indian star stunned the Dutchman with an off-beat line and did not rely on fashionable variations. The game was in the Sicilian Sveshnikov and Anand handled the complications very well and may have pulled off the win earlier than his 36 moves. Van Wely's mistake being the 27th move on which Anand immediately capitalized and delivered the telling blow.
Vladimir Kramnik, who lost both games in his last year's clash with Alexander Morozevich at Amber, was satisfied to draw the games in this edition. In the Blindfold, it was as usual a complicated game with Morozevich in action and both missed possible chances before drawing from a Sicilian Najdorf.
Peter Leko inflicted on Boris Gelfand his seventh straight loss and then drew the Rapid game to take his tally to 5.5, the same as Anand and Kramnik.
Wednesday is a rest day and the clashes will resume on Thursday, when Anand plays Evegeny Bareev. Anand has white in Blindfold and black in Rapid.
Results of Round 4 (Blindfold): Shirov drew with Ivanchuk; Leko beat Gelfand; Morozevich drew with Kramnik; Bareev drew with Topalov; Vallejo drew with Svidler; Van Wely drew with Anand.
Standings: Blindfold: 1. Svidler and Leko 3.0; 3. Morozevich, Kramnik and Bareev 2.5; 6. Topalov, Anand, Shirov and Ivanchuk 2.0; 10. Van Wely 1.5; 11. Vallejo Pons 1.0; 12. Gelfand 0.
Results of Round 4 (Rapid): Ivanchuk beat Shirov; Gelfand drew with Leko; Kramnik drew with Morozevich; Topalov beat Bareev; Svidler lost to Vallejo; Anand beat Van Wely.
Standings Rapid: 1. Anand 3.5; 2. Kramnik 3.0; 3. Leko and Bareev 2.5; 5. Morozevich, Topalov, Shirov and Ivanchuk 2.0; 9. Svidler and Van Wely 1.5; 11. Vallejo Pons 1.0; 12. Gelfand 0.5.
Standings Combined: 1. Anand, Leko and Kramnik 5.5; 3. 4. Bareev 5.0; 5. Morozevich and Svidler 4.5; 7. Topalov, Shirov and Ivanchuk 4.0; 10. Van Wely 3.0; 11. Vallejo Pons, 2.0; 12. Gelfand 0.5.
Pairings for Round 5: Anand-Bareev; Svidler-Van Wely; Topalov-Vallejo; Kramnik-Shirov; Gelfand-Morozevich; Ivanchuk-Leko.
Blindfold (Round 4) - Van Wely v Anand: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Qxc3 b6 7. Bg5 Bb7 8. e3 d6 9. Ne2 Nbd7 10. Qd3 h6 11. Bh4 Ba6 12. Nc3 d5 13. Qc2 Bxc4 14. Bxc4 dxc4 15. Qa4 c5 16. Qxc4 cxd4 17. Qxd4 g5 18. Bg3 Nc5 19. Rd1 Qxd4 20. Rxd4 Rfd8 21. Ke2 Rxd4 22. exd4 Nb3 23. Rd1 Rd8 24. Be5 Ng4 25. f3 Nxe5 26. dxe5 Rxd1 27. Nxd1 Kg7 28. Nf2 Kg6 29. g4 f5 30. exf6 Kxf6 31. Ke3 Na5 32. Kd4 Nb3 33. Ke3 Na5 34. Kd4 Nb3 35. Kc3 Nc1 36. Kd2 Nb3 37. Kc3 Nc1 38. Kd2 1/2-1/2 (Draw)
Rapid (Round 4) - Anand v Van Wely: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Nxe7 Nxe7 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. c4 Bb7 13. Bd3 bxc4 14. Nxc4 d5 15. exd5 Qxd5 16. Qa4 Kf8 17. O-O-O Qxg2 18. Rhg1 Qxf2 19. Qb4 Bf3 20. Rgf1 Qg2 21. Ne3 Qh3 22. Bf5 Qh5 23. Rd7 Re8 24. Bc2 e4 25. Kb1 Qb5 26. Qd6 Qe5 27. Qd2 Qf4 28. Ba4 Ng6 29. Bb3 Ne5 30. Qd6 Kg7 31. Rxf7 Kg6 32. Rg1 Kh5 33. Rxf6 Qxe3 34. Rf5 Kh4 35. Qf6 Kh3 36. Rg3 1-0 (Anand wins)