Innovation, elegance, elite competition
Few tournaments combined innovation, elegance and elite competition as seamlessly as the Melody Amber Chess Tournament. Held annually from 1992 to 2011 and sponsored by Dutch businessman and correspondence chess world champion Joop van Oosterom, the event was named after his daughter, Melody Amber. Initially a classical round-robin, it soon transformed into a unique competition blending blindfold and rapid chess.
Each edition of the tournament saw world-class grandmasters competing in both blindfold and rapid formats, playing two games per day against the same opponent with a time control of 25 minutes plus 20 seconds increment in blindfold, and 10 seconds increment in rapid. Blindfold games were conducted via computer screens with empty boards, while opponents sat face-to-face, adding a psychological dimension to the challenge.
The 19th edition took place from 13 to 25 March 2010 in Nice, France, hosted at the luxurious Palais de la Méditerranée on the Promenade des Anglais. Organised by the Association Max Euwe, the event featured twelve top players and a total prize fund of €216,000. The tournament retained its dual-format system, with four sessions held daily: two for blindfold and two for rapid.
Ultimately, the 2010 event ended in a tie for first place between Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, already the world number 1 at 19 years of age, and Ukraine’s Vasyl Ivanchuk. Ivanchuk, who played in every single edition of the tournament, remained unbeaten throughout the event and caught up with Carlsen in the final round. The two champions showcased distinct styles: Carlsen won 13 games with only 3 draws and 6 losses, while Ivanchuk scored more conservatively with a high draw percentage but without a single defeat.
The Palais de la Mediterranée, a five-star luxury hotel on the Promenade des Anglais
Street-side cafés in the city of Nice (pronounced “niece”)
Rounds 1-4: Ivanchuk starts with 2-0 victory over Carlsen, Carlsen bounces back with six wins in a row
Ivanchuk began in dominant fashion, beating Carlsen 2-0 in the first round. The Norwegian’s experimental 1.a3 in the blindfold game backfired, and Ivanchuk went on to punish the young star in both formats. This gave the Ukrainian an early lead, with Carlsen among several players starting on the back foot.
Carlsen responded immediately, scoring three consecutive 2-0 victories against Levon Aronian, Peter Svidler and Jan Smeets. His aggressive approach in both formats paid off, and by round four he had won six games in a row. Ivanchuk, meanwhile, continued scoring steadily with wins over Sergey Karjakin and Aronian.
After four rounds, Ivanchuk and Carlsen were tied for the lead on 6 points. Ivanchuk’s stability and Carlsen’s sharp recovery had set the stage for a two-player race. Boris Gelfand and Alexander Grischuk remained within striking distance but trailed by a full point.
Chess bits
In their round-three rapid encounter, Aronian and Smeets reached a double-edged position in the middlegame. Smeets played 24…Qh1 in the diagrammed setup, which is not a blunder but left him struggling to defend the position. The tactical 24…Qxf2+ was the way to go.
The idea is that after 24…Qxf2+ there follows 25.Kxf2 Ne4+ 26.Kg2 Nxd6
Smeets surely saw this line, but he probably wanted to get more from the fact that his queen had infiltrated so deep into White’s camp. However, his choice resulted in a 37-move win for Aronian, who had also won the blindfold encounter earlier in the day.
The eventual co-winners faced off in the first round
All games: rounds 1-4
Rounds 5-8: Ivanchuk keeps it steady
Ivanchuk pulled ahead again in round five by defeating Smeets 1½–½, while Carlsen’s streak ended in his mini-match against Karjakin – the Norwegian won the blindfold encounter but lost in rapid. Gelfand also remained in contention with a fourth straight win, but the focus remained on the top two. At this point, Ivanchuk had re-established himself as sole leader.
Carlsen recovered in round six with a crucial 2-0 win over Gelfand, overtaking Ivanchuk, who was held to two draws by Ruslan Ponomariov. The Norwegian now led the field outright, his uncompromising style yielding nine wins and three losses after six rounds.
In round seven, momentum swung back. Ivanchuk defeated Grischuk, while Carlsen was beaten by Vugar Gashimov. Round eight confirmed the shift: Ivanchuk drew with Leinier Dominguez to maintain the lead, while Carlsen suffered another setback against Vladimir Kramnik. Heading into the final phase, Ivanchuk led Carlsen by a full point.
Chess bits
Carlsen got a better position with black in his round-five blindfold game against a 20-year-old Karjakin. The Russian grandmaster let himself be tempted with the sacrifice 34.Bxg6 in the following position – which goes to show elite players’ ability to see difficult tactics while not looking at the board!
Karjakin’s move was not a one-move blunder by any means, as the position soon turned into a queen endgame with 4 v. 3 pawns in favour of Black. However, objectively better was to keep the pieces on the board with 34.Qc3+ or 34.Qf2.
After the text move, there followed a forcing sequence which started with the good-looking 34…Rxh2+. Already an endgame wizard at a young age, Carlsen went on to build up the pressure in the queen endgame that arose after 35.Rxh2 Qxf3+ 36.Kg1 Bxh2+ 37.Kxh2 Qf4+ 38.Kg2 hxg6
The game continued until move 64, when Karjakin finally threw in the towel.
A top-notch chess analysis session – Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik move the pieces, as a 59-year-old Ljubomir Ljubojevic and a 17-year-old Fabiano Caruana share insights
All games: rounds 5-8
Rounds 9-11: Carlsen grabs sole lead before final day of action, Ivanchuk catches up
In round nine, Ivanchuk drew both games against Gashimov, preserving his half-point lead. Carlsen kept the pressure on by defeating Dominguez 1½–½, narrowing the gap and setting up a tense race between the two front-runners. With two rounds remaining, Kramnik remained in contention but trailed by a full point.
Round ten saw a significant shift. Carlsen took back the lead in the overall standings with a clean 2-0 victory over Ponomariov, who had struggled throughout the event. Meanwhile, Ivanchuk and Kramnik played out two closely contested draws, which allowed Carlsen to move half a point ahead of the Ukrainian grandmaster.
The final round delivered high tension and a fitting end to an unpredictable tournament. Carlsen was paired with Alexander Grischuk, while Ivanchuk faced Gelfand. In the blindfold game, Carlsen misjudged the position after losing track of Grischuk’s queen – a costly mistake in an otherwise well-played King’s Indian. He recovered in the rapid game, creating practical problems in a complex middlegame and eventually levelling the mini-match 1–1.
Chess bits
Carlsen would have increased his chances of winning the tournament outright had he not made a mistake typical of blindfold chess in his final-round game with black against Grischuk.
Carlsen played 25…Qxe4 believing that White’s queen was still on d2 – he thought he was capturing an unprotected pawn on e4. After 26.Qxe4 there was nothing to do but to resign.
The diagrammed position is slightly favourable for White. Black could go for 25…Bxb2+ 26.Kxb2 Qf6+ 27.Qc3 Qxf1 and the game goes with potential attacks for both sides given the presence of queens and bishops of opposite colours.
Ivanchuk, on the other board, played inspired chess. He outplayed Gelfand in the blindfold session and held firm in the rapid game to win the mini-match 1½–½. That result allowed him to catch Carlsen in the final standings. As Ivanchuk observed the closing phase of Carlsen’s game, it became clear to both that they would share the title.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament thus concluded with joint winners: Magnus Carlsen, who had played with characteristic dynamism, and Vasyl Ivanchuk, whose consistency and unbeaten performance earned him a memorable triumph in a tournament he had graced since its inception.
A dimly lit playing hall
All games: rounds 9-11
Final standings
Cross table
