Amber Rapid & Blindfold 2010

Submitted by SonofPearl on Thu, 03/11/2010 at 11:43am.

When the world's top grandmasters get an invite to the annual Amber tournament in Nice, hardly anyone turns it down.

It's not hard to see why. The participants get to spend nearly 2 weeks in the beautiful south of France, playing a combination of rapid and blindfold games (so no precious rating points are at stake) and the prize fund is a generous €216,000 (nearly 300,000 USD).

Despite this, there has been a last minute withdrawal this year by Alexander Morozevich for unspecified personal reasons. He is replaced by his fellow countryman, and another Alexander - Grischuk.

The tournament runs from 13-25 March, with rest days on the 17th and 22nd. There are four rounds each day, two blindfold and two rapid, starting at 14:30 local time (13:30 GMT, 8:30 EST), apart from the final round which starts at 12:30.

[UPDATE - The draw has now taken place, and the full schedule is available here]

The rapid games are 25 minutes per game, plus a 10 second increment. The blindfold games are also 25 minutes per game, but with a 20 second increment.

The line-up is truly impressive, with most of the top ten playing apart from Vishy Anand (#4) and Veselin Topalov (#2), who are understandably busy preparing for their match in April.

The full line-up is:

Rank	Name	Nat	Elo
1	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2813
3	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2790
5	Aronian, Levon	ARM	2782
7	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2756
8	Svidler, Peter	RUS	2750
9	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2750
11	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2748
12	Gashimov, Vugar	AZE	2740
15	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2737
21	Karjakin, Sergey	RUS	2725
27	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	CUB	2713
87	Smeets, Jan	NED	2651

The rapid and blindfold events are separate competitions, but the scores from each event are also combined to crown an overall winner.

Lev Aronian will be going for a hat-trick after topping the combined standing for the last two years. However, world #1 Magnus Carlsen and six-time winner Vladimir Kramnik start as favourites.

The official website, with more details and live coverage is here.

» more Chess event coverage

| 5195 reads | 34 comments |

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Comments:

by cofail - 22 months ago
London England

Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 5901

Carlsen played 1.a3 in his game, a mouse slip?

by cofail - 22 months ago
London England

Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 5901

Will any games be broadcast on chess.com tv?

by Haroutioun - 22 months ago
YEREVAN Armenia

Member Since: Jan 2010
Member Points: 22

i feel that carlsen be win, but biggest chance a have Aronian because, he is the champion of this type of game.

by SonofPearl - 22 months ago
Wales

Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 11894

@ philidor_position - yeah, he seems like a very likeable and down-to-earth guy. Funny, too!

by philidor_position - 22 months ago
international International

Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 2986

SonofPearl, that youtube video was SOOO cool. I didn't know Aronion was such a fun and down to earth guy.

by random_gamer24 - 22 months ago
bicol Philippines

Member Since: Mar 2010
Member Points: 2

go grischuk!

by glasshousenc - 22 months ago
Albemarle, North Carolina United States

Member Since: Sep 2009
Member Points: 256

Thanks for the post SOP - impressive line-up, should be some exciting games!

My support goes to Carlsen but Kramnik and Grischuk are among my top faves as well since following their play at Corus.

by DJHeilke - 22 months ago
United States

Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 107

I don't like the laptop thing. It is not truly blindfold. perhaps they should call it "pieceless chess" or "invisible chess".

No school like the old school for me.....

and a happy 1. P-QKt4 to you all....

by WGM Natalia_Pogonina - 22 months ago
Saratov Russia

Member Since: Jul 2009
Member Points: 2233

Very nice line-up. It's a pity that Moro withdrew though, and Naka would've been a great addition.

by SonofPearl - 22 months ago
Wales

Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 11894

There is a nice video preview available here.

by leunamciden - 22 months ago
antipolo city Philippines

Member Since: Feb 2010
Member Points: 50

the best line up, even though some of the the best is missing.

by marwanredman123 - 22 months ago
Yemen

Member Since: Jan 2010
Member Points: 389

Fantastic

by eXecute - 22 months ago
Washington DC, Hangar 18, Area 51, and Turkey

Member Since: Nov 2008
Member Points: 603

Gashimov is my favorite for this tournament. Although, Magnus probably has best chance to win. However, anything is possible, I do believe all of these GMs have good chances and are not limited to rating-dogma.

by EDUARDABABAYAN - 22 months ago
SEATTLE United States

Member Since: Feb 2010
Member Points: 12

In old days, players said their moves without looking to the board. Now they use computers, instead. So, laptops show moves only, not the position on the board; it is kind of "silent" game. That's what I think.

by garniktalavera - 22 months ago
Madrid (Spain) Armenia

Member Since: Apr 2009
Member Points: 878

go Aronian!!!

by amitprabhale - 22 months ago
Mumbai India

Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 1016

o0obruceleeo0o & sonofpearl thanks bt I wud like 2know more bout it. Wats the purpose of playn on a laptop? Dis thng is new 2me

by o0obruceleeo0o - 22 months ago
Charlotte, NC United States

Member Since: Jul 2007
Member Points: 192

"How is Blindfold played? R the eyes closed?? Pls reply.. "

The blindfold games are played on the computer. I can't remember if they have little dots on the screen that show where the opponents pieces are, or if there are no symbols on the board at all.

by SonofPearl - 22 months ago
Wales

Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 11894

@ amitprabhale - the players use laptops and an empty board on a computer screen. Here's a pic from last year...