While I know this article is going to showcase my ignorance let's run down the list of things I learned from the closing of the Melody Amber.

1. The Melody Amber prize fund is €216,000. I don't know the conversion but that's definitely an obscene amount of money.

2. Levon Aronian can actually win top GM tournaments. Call me a doubter but I just didn't think he had it in him. Congrats, Aronian.

3. Chess masters determine appearance fees based upon their rank in the rating system at the time. It makes since but nobody ever said it until now.

4. Joop van Oosterom is the name of the billionaire behind the event ... and Melody Amber is his daughter's name. I knew it was that brainchild of a rich guy, I just didn't know who.

5. When giants collide the little fish can surprise. Anand and Kramnik were so worried about each other that they forgot there were other opponents.

Partial credit for my newfound education goes to Susan Polgar.

Anand beats Kramnik in the blind competition at the Melody Amber to come out the winner of their match.
That puts Anand in the sole lead for the event and if I do say so myself shows Kramnik again only a shadow of his former self. Kramnik needs to step up if he wants to show the world that he is still World Champion material.
Chessvibes Article
Susan Polgar Article
Official Tournament Website

I would feel remiss on the current theme of "Cheering For The Underdog" if I didn't mention the astounding victory of GM Yuri Vovk at the Cappelle-la-Grande. At a modest 2545 rating Yuri wasn't expected to make such a showing (a 2800+ performance rating).
Chessbase Pictorial Report
Official Tournament Website

Woo Hoo! GM Grischuk should jump up and down and then bow at the feet of GM Dominguez. You see ... this year Grischuk won the Linares Chess Supertournament by managing to remain tied with Ivanchuk going into the last round and because Grischuk drew his game and Ivanchuk drew his game against Dominguez the tournament was awarded to Grischuk based on an unusual "most wins" tiebreak (as reported in this Chessbase article, traditional tiebreaks would reward Ivanchuk the 1st place finish).



I also expected Levon Aronian to pull a miracle win from his hat in his last round game against Grischuk. Alas, that was not to be ... I just get that feeling that Aronian doesn't have the killer instinct that he needs to go all out and play to win games. He's a good sport though and we need more top players that can carry themselves with dignity even in dire circumstances (Aronian could have easily faultered here and given the victory to Grischuk in the final round).

So that's it ... Linares is over and I'm personally ready to see what the next big tournament is coming up ... as well as getting some articles flowing into chessvine that don't include "Linares" in the title.

Just a little disclaimer: This is a tiny rant - I really appreciate susan Polgar.



Susan just recently posted a little note regarding Linares which was titled "A mere 2 points separate 1st from last" and one of the taglines of the post claims "Anything can still happen in the final 2 rounds"

I totally disagree and I think anyone with a knowledge of chess tournaments will understand the need to point out the obvious. With two rounds of tournament to go the only possibility for GM Leinier Dominguez Perez is to tie for first and that is assuming that Grischuk loses his next two games and that Perez wins his last two. The possibility is so remote that I give it an 'IMPOSSIBLE" ... not to mention that there are six other players still in the tournament. I think a bloddy next two rounds will see Grischuk fall from the top and I'm still looking for Magnus to jump into the lead.