Riazantsev played in aggressive style by sacrificing first a pawn and then a piece in order to chase Black's king. Karjakin was however able to walk his monarch across, and then up the board, and his king eventually became a powerful piece. A fascinating tussle, and yet another entertaining display from Riazantsev.
Dmitry Jakovenko was involved in a double-edged struggle against Motylev who provoked some complications that proved to be unsound for him.
Sergei Rublevsky and Ivan Sokolov had a lively line in the Scotch Mieses where Sokolov was able to advance his d-pawn until it cost the Russian a piece.
Rublevsky's second loss with White.
Baadur Jobava | Georgia | 2715 | 0.5-0.5 | Arkadij Naiditsch | Germany | 2686 |
Alexander Onischuk | USA | 2699 | 0.5-0.5 | Nikita Vitiugov | Russia | 2707 |
Alexander Riazantsev | Russia | 2674 | 0-1 | Sergey Karjakin | Russia | 2739 |
Emil Sutovsky | Israel | 2661 | 0.5-0.5 | Victor Bologan | Moldavia | 2668 |
Sergei Rublevsky | Russia | 2704 | 0-1 | Ivan Sokolov | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 2654 |
Alexander Motylev | Russia | 2704 | 0-1 | Dmitry Jakovenko | Russia | 2725 |
Jakovenko must be happy about his situation, but Karjakin probably still has aspirations about winning the tournament.
Three players are on positive scores, Jakovenko on +3, Karjakin on +2 and Riazantsev on +1. After that five players are on 50%.
Position | Name | Country | Rating | World ranking | Age | Points after eight rounds |
1st | Dmitry Jakovenko | RUS | 2725 | 21 | 26 | 5.5 |
2nd | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2739 | 14 | 20 | 5 |
3rd | Alexander Riazantsev | RUS | 2674 | 58 | 24 | 4.5 |
4th-8th | Baadur Jobava | GEO | 2715 | 26 | 26 | 4 |
4th-8th | Nikita Vitiugov | RUS | 2707 | 32 | 23 | 4 |
4th-8th | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2686 | 47 | 24 | 4 |
4th-8th | Victor Bologan | MDA | 2668 | 64 | 38 | 4 |
4th-8th | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2661 | 75 | 32 | 4 |
9th-10th | Alexander Onischuk | USA | 2699 | 38 | 34 | 3.5 |
9th-10th | Ivan Sokolov | BIH | 2654 | 83 | 41 | 3.5 |
11th-12th | Alexander Motylev | RUS | 2704 | 34 | 30 | 3 |
11th-12th | Sergei Rublevsky | RUS | 2704 | 33 | 35 | 3 |
With three rounds to go the eventual winner will almost certainly come from the leading three players.
You can follow the games live on Live games
You may also like to investigate the following site Chesspro However it is in Russian!
The ninth round will start tomorrow (Friday) at 10am (London), 11am (Paris) or 3pm (local time).