The Chess Mind

Vassily Ivanchuk's once big lead and dominating play are fading into the past. After his third consecutive draw, his lead is down to a single half point, and he was probably fortunate to draw. Bu Xiangzhi may be having one of the worst tournaments of his adult life, but he's still a 2700, and today he was demonstrating his normal level quite convincingly. He was better throughout and had a clear advantage in the ending, but after choosing 40.Rc6 instead of 40.Rb7 (keeping Black's king bottled up) Ivanchuk played very well to achieve the draw.

A good thing, too, as Veselin Topalov absolutely butchered his countryman and frequent second, Ivan Cheparinov, to reach an impressive +4 total for the event.

Finally, in the game Aronian-Radjabov, zeitnot played a decisive role in the result. White's position was precarious after 37...g5, but with more time to think Aronian probably could have maintained the balance. Instead, his 38.f5 misfired, and the follow-up, 39.Rg3, more or less lost on the spot. A good result for Radjabov, who has climbed to +1, but another blow in an ongoing disaster for Aronian.

Standings after Round 8:

1. Ivanchuk 6.5
2. Topalov 6
3. Radjabov 4.5
4. Cheparinov 3.5
5. Aronian 2
6. Bu Xiangzhi 1.5

Pairings for Round 9:

Bu Xiangzhi - Topalov (Topalov will win)
Ivanchuk - Aronian (Ivanchuk may win, but I'm expecting a draw)
Radjabov - Cheparinov

Links, videos (check out the Spassky "interview" [really a press conference]), and the games on replayable boards (at least once you install Silverlight) here.