Gelfand and Kramnik playing blindfold chess with an empty chess board before them.
Luck Smiles On Anand, Kramnik
By Arvind Aaron
Gelfand and Kramnik playing blindfold
chess with an empty chess board before them.
The world champion Viswanathan Anand and the Brain Games champion Vladimir Kramnik were lucky on Saturday, round seven. Anand was lucky not to lose and Kramnik was lucky to receive a gift rook and win the blindfold game. It was nevertheless an eventful day.
Anand fought back and showed good technique of his to draw the exchange down rapid game. In blindfold, he accepted the draw that Almasi offered as white very early. Half the games were decisive, a big improvement. Shirov was lucky to defeat Karpov. Four rounds remain in this 12-player double round robin rapid and blindfold chess tournament.
The results (seventh round)
Rapid
Blindfold
Leko-Piket
1-0 Piket-Leko
1-0
Ljubojevic-Van Wely 0-1
Van Wely-Ljubojevic 0-1
Anand-Almasi
Draw Almasi-Anand
Draw
Ivanchuk-Topalov
Draw Topalov-Ivanchuk
Draw
Karpov-Shirov
Draw Shirov-Karpov
1-0
Gelfand-Kramnik
Draw Kramnik-Gelfand
1-0
Standings: 1-2 Anand, Kramnik 9.5/14, 3 Topalov 9, 4 Leko 8, 5 Shirov 7, 6-7 Ljubojevic, Piket 6.5, 8-9 Gelfand, Karpov 6, 10-11 Almasi, Ivanchuk 5.5, 12 Van Wely 5.