Karjakin breaks through

Sergey Karjakin leads

The favourite Sergey Karjakin has taken the lead in Poikovsky after the penultimate round. His opponent Zahar Efimenko quickly got into a tangle in the quiet Bishop's game, and this led to Karjakin winning the exchange. The other four games were drawn, so Fabiano Caruana and Etienne Bacrot are in equal second.

Here is a summary of the eighth round results:

White	Rating	Results	Black	Rating
Victor Laznicka	2701	½-½	Alexander Onischuk	2669
Fabiano Caruana	2712	½-½	Alexander Motylev	2690
Sergey Karjakin	2772	1-0	Zahar Efimenko	2703
Lazaro Bruzon Batista	2682	½-½	Dmitry Jakovenko	2716
Etienne Bacrot	2705	½-½	Sergey Rublevsky	2681

The tournament situation after eight rounds from nine:

Rank	Name	Age	Country	Rating	World rank	Points
1	Sergey Karjakin	21	RUS	2772	5	5
2-3	Fabiano Caruana	19	ITA	2712	32	4½
2-3	Etienne Bacrot	28	FRA	2705	43	4½
4-6	Viktor Laznicka	23	CZE	2701	47	4
4-6	Alexander Motylev	32	RUS	2690	54	4
4-6	Alexander Onischuk	36	USA	2669	76	4
7-10	Dmitry Jakovenko	28	RUS	2716	27	3½
7-10	Zahar Efimenko	26	UKR	2703	46	3½
7-10	Lazaro Bruzon Batista	29	CUB	2682	62	3½
7-10	Sergei Rublevsky	36	RUS	2681	63	3½

The official site: http://admoil.ru/chess_2011.html