Viswanathan Anand began his title defence in the 13th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament, at the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel in Monaco, with two draws against world No. 4 Peter Svidler, who is making his debut in the tournament.
Three-time champion Anand, who is also the Brand Ambassador of the Indian information technology giant NIIT, is one of the most popular players in Monaco, having won the event in 1994, 1997 and 2003 and finishing second on three other occasions.
Anand's two games were contrasting in nature. In the blindfold, Anand tried hard and long for a win, but the Russian champion held out and managed a draw in an opposite colour bishop ending.
Anand did have an extra pawn but it did not help as the point was split in the longest game of the day.
In the rapid, it was Svidler with white who created the pressure but he could make no headway and the game ended in a quick 21-move draw. The game was in the Sicilian Paulsen.
The lead was shared by three players, Vladimir Kramnik, Evegeny Bareev and Alexander Morozevich, who won both their blindfold and rapid games in the first round.
Kramnik dealt a double blow to Boris Gelfand, while Morozevich beat Vassily Ivanchuk in both his games. Bareev scored twice over Paco Vallejo, who blundered in the blindfold first and then missed his chance in rapid.
Speaking before the start of the event, Anand, who has won three times and finished second on three other occasions, said, "The Melody Amber Event is a very special event. There is an excellent atmosphere of camaraderie both at play and in the press centre. The event is a very tough challenge. Playing two different formats each day needs a very different approach. In the blindfold, mental alertness comes into play. However, over the years the error factor has decreased considerably.
"I was very happy to win in 2003, which was my third time. I hope that I can play well and keep the momentum till the end. Stability, stamina and freshness will be the key ingredients."
The event, as usual, had an extraordinary opening ceremony for draw of lots.
The 12 participants were asked to draw with a felt pen caricatures of Onyz or Whoopy, the two Labradors owned by the Van Oosterom (sponsors') family.
The best effort came from Paco Vallejo and Anand was in the middle of the pack when the drawings of the dogs were judged.
At the Melody Amber event, every day the Grandmasters play one Rapid game and one Blindfold game, of around an hour per game. The Blindfold games are played on a computer. For the players, only an empty chess board is visible on the screen and they make their moves with the mouse or the keyboard which will then appear on the screens of both players. After they have confirmed their move, the players see the move disappear and the clock of the opponent starts running. Various monitors in the playing room show the course of the game, which is perfectly visible for the arbiter and the audience, but not for the Grandmasters.
Results of Round 1 (Blindfold): Vallejo Pons lost to Bareev; Van Wely drew with Topalov; Anand drew with Svidler; Shirov drew with Leko; Morozevich beat Ivanchuk; Kramnik beat Gelfand.
Results of Round 1 (Rapid): Bareev beat Vallejo Pons; Leko beat Shirov; Svidler drew with Anand; Topalov drew with Van Wely; Gelfand lost to Kramnik; Ivanchuk lost to Morozevich.
Combined standings: 1. Morozevich, Bareev and Kramnik (2 each); 4. Leko (1.5); 5. Topalov, Anand, Van Wely, and Svidler (1 each); 9. Shirov (0.5); 10. Gelfand, Ivanchuk, and Vallejo ( 0 points).
Parings for Round 2: Gelfand-Shirov; Ivanchuk-Kramnik; Leko-Morozevich; Bareev-Svidler;
Topalov-Anand; Vallejo-Van Wely.
