The Chess Mind

For almost the entire tournament, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Sergei Zhigalko have been tied for first, and it's still true after round 9. The former defeated David Howell and the latter Li Chao, and now they both have 7.5/9, putting them half a point ahead of Eduardo Iturrizaga with four rounds to go. Among the Americans, Ray Robson drew and Alex Lenderman won, so they both have 6 points. (Fortunately, they aren't paired for round 10.)

Here are the leading pairings for the next round:

Iturrizaga (7) - Vachier-Lagrave (7.5)
Olszewski (6.5) - Zhigalko (7.5)
Popov (6) - Rodshtein (6.5)

Elsewhere in the 6's, Robson and Lenderman have Black against Howell and Vocaturo, respectively. Full pairings here.