Aronian wins the final Melody Amber

Three Black wins in the last round of the Blindfold settled the tournament. Levon Aronian had the tournament sown-up before the 11th round rapids.

Round 11: Blindfold

Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura fought back to equalize their matches. Anand's 2-0 over Giri condemned the young Dutchman to last place.

Round 11: Rapidplay

The top three in the world occupy the podium, but the World No.4, Vladimir Kramnik, will be the most disappointed of all the players.

The final table:

On the final day, Viswanthan Anand consolidated his third place in the overall event. In the middle, 4th-10th involved seven players separated by only one point.

Magnus Carlsen's 9½/11 must have been one of the highest-ever performances in a rapid tournament.

The previous rounds:

Round 1: Blindfold

Round 1: Rapidplay

Round 2: Blindfold

Round 2: Rapidplay

Round 3: Blindfold

Round 3: Rapidplay

Round 4: Blindfold

Round 4: Rapidplay

Round 5: Blindfold

Round 5: Rapidplay

Round 6: Blindfold

Round 6: Rapidplay

Round 7: Blindfold

Round 7: Rapidplay

Round 8: Blindfold

Round 8: Rapidplay

Round 9: Blindfold

Round 9: Rapidplay

Round 10: Blindfold

Round 10: Rapidplay

The total prize fund is 227,000 € which explains the presence of so many elite players.

The time control varies slightly between the blindfold and rapidplay:

25 minutes by game in both cases, with an increment of 20 seconds by move at blindfold and just 10 seconds at rapidplay.

There are four sessions during the day. In the final round tomorrow these will begin at the earlier time of 12.30pm (local time) and the final session around 6pm.

The event takes place at the Hotel Monte-Carlo "Bay Hotel & Resort" in Monaco, from the 11th to the 25th of March 2011. The Max Euwe association and the philantrophist Joop van Oosterom have organized the event since 1992, and named it after his daughter Melody Amber.

For more information go to:Official site