Anand placed second in Rapid, 4th overall in Monaco

Monaco, Mar 20 (UNI) Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand and Vassily Ivanchuk traded one win each in the third round of the Melody Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament in one of the most exciting and swift performances from both sides today.

While Ivanchuk dealt Anand the blow in the first blindfold game, Anand quickly repaid back with a ruthless win in rapid.

The win in Rapid kept Anand in second place in that section and fourth overall with 3.5 points.

No player managed to win both games in third round and Vladimir Kramnik kept his nose ahead in overall standings, as he totalled five points from three rounds and six games so far.

Levon Aronian, who has a spotless record in rapid to lead that section, is second overall with 4.5 points while Ivanchuk is third with four points. Anand is fourth with 3.5 points.

Results (Round 3): Blindfold: Leko beat Vallejo; Gelfand beat Aronian; Carlsen drew with Svidler; Van Wely lost to Radjabov; Morozevich lost to Kramnik; Ivanchuk beat Anand.

Rapid: Vallejo drew with Leko; Aronian beat Gelfand; Svidler drew with Carlsen; Radjabov lost to Van Wely; Kramnik drew with Morozevich; Anand beat Ivanchuk.

Standings after Round 3: Blindfold: 1. Kramnik 3.0; 2. Ivanchuk 2.5; 3. Svidler and Gelfand 2.0; 5. Morozevich, Aronian and Leko 1.5; 8. Carlsen, Vallejo Pons, Anand and Radjabov 1.0; 12. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2683 0.0; Rapid: 1. Aronian 3.0; 2. Anand 2.5; 3. Kramnik 2.0; 4. Morozevich, Ivanchuk, Carlsen and Leko 1.5; 8. Vallejo Pons, Gelfand, Svidler and Van Wely 1.0; 12. Radjabov 0.5.

Combined: 1. Kramnik 5.0; 2. Aronian 4.5; 3. Ivanchuk 4.0; 4. Anand 3.5; 5. Morozevich, Gelfand, Svidler and Leko 3.0; 9. Carlsen 2.5; 10. Vallejo Pons 2.0; 11. Radjabov 1.5; 12. Van Wely 1.0; UNI