The Chess Mind

This will be a "just the facts" post; annotated games will appear later. The most important bit of info is that Aronian extended his lead in the combined standings by giving Morozevich a 2-0 pasting, while Carlsen lost to Kramnik 1.5-.5 and Leko drew his match with Karjakin 1-1. That leaves Aronian a whopping 2.5 points ahead of the Kramnik, Carlsen & Leko trio with just 4 rounds (two days) to go.

Leading Blindfold Standings:

1-3. Aronian, Kramnik, Morozevich 5.5
4-6. Carlsen, Leko, Topalov 5

Leading Rapid Standings:

1. Aronian 7(!)
2-4. Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Leko 5
5-7. Anand, Kramnik, Topalov 4.5

Overall Standings:

1. Aronian 12.5
2-4. Carlsen, Kramnik, Leko 10
5-6. Ivanchuk, Topalov 9.5
7. Anand 9
8. Morozevich 8.5
9. Karjakin 8
10. van Wely 7.5
11. Gelfand 7
12. Mamedyarov 6.5

Round 10 Pairings:

Ivanchuk - Mamedyarov
van Wely - Topalov
Gelfand - Anand
Karjakin - Morozevich
Aronian - Kramnik (The match of the day!)
Leko - Carlsen (Not bad either - all four leaders are paired.)

(First-named players have White in the blindfold game.)

Tournament website here.