Magnus Carlsen catches up with Vasily Ivanchuk after third 2-0 wipe-out

After four rounds of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Magnus Carlsen and Vasily Ivanchuk are tied for first in the overall standings with 6 points from 8 games. The Ukrainian grandmaster defeated last year’s winner Levon Aronian 1½-½. Magnus Carlsen continued his remarkable comeback after he lost 2-0 to Ivanchuk in Round 1. The world’s number one defeated Jan Smeets 2-0, raising his number of consecutive wins to six. Manifold Amber winner Vladimir Kramnik suffered a highly atypical 2-0 defeat at the hands of Boris Gelfand. Perhaps typical for the fighting spirit of the round was the fact that 5 out the 6 rapid games were won by black.

Score after Round 4

Blindfold

1.  Carlsen    3 
Grischuk 3
Ivanchuk 3
4. Gelfand 2½
Karjakin 2½
Ponomariov 2½
7. Gashimov 2
8. Aronian 1½
Kramnik 1½
Svidler 1½
11. Dominguez ½
Smeets ½

Rapid

1.  Carlsen    3 
Ivanchuk 3
3. Gelfand 2½
Kramnik 2½
5. Aronian 2
Grischuk 2
Ponomariov 2
Svidler 2
9. Dominguez 1½
Gashimov 1½
11. Karjakin 1
Smeets 1

Combined

1.  Carlsen    6 
Ivanchuk 6
3. Gelfand 5
Grischuk 5
5. Ponomariov 4½
6. Kramnik 4
7. Aronian 3½
Gashimov 3½
Karjakin 3½
Svidler 3½
11. Dominguez 2
12. Smeets 1½

http://amberchess2010.com/

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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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