Onischuk obtained some opening pressure against Black's slightly inferior pawn structure. Black's efforts to 'temporarily' sacrifice a pawn for activity didn't convince the American who steered the game into a clearly favourable endgame a 'permanent' pawn to the good.
Nikita Vitiugov and Victor Bologan seems to have come from nowhere and, with their consecutive wins, are in the thick of the hunt along with top seeds Sergey Karjakin and Dmitry Jakovenko.
Both won with Black, Vitiugov after creating an unexpected swindle, and Bologan after breaking free against an IQP attack which left White with a rook offside. The exchange of queens then ensured a superior endgame for Black.
| Alexander Onischuk | USA | 2699 | 1-0 | Dmitry Jakovenko | Russia | 2725 |
| Baadur Jobava | Georgia | 2715 | 0.5-0.5 | Ivan Sokolov | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 2654 |
| Alexander Motylev | Russia | 2704 | 0.5-0.5 | Alexander Riazantsev | Russia | 2674 |
| Sergei Rublevsky | Russia | 2704 | 0.5-0.5 | Sergey Karjakin | Russia | 2739 |
| Emil Sutovsky | Israel | 2661 | 0-1 | Nikita Vitiugov | Russia | 2707 |
| Arkadij Naiditsch | Germany | 2686 | 0-1 | Victor Bologan | Moldavia | 2668 |
Sergey Karjakin was willing to take on Rublevsky's trademark Scotch and a complicated game ensued in which both players had chances. Karjakin sacrificed the exchange but his attack only led to a repetition.
| Position | Name | Country | Rating | World ranking | Age | Points after ten rounds |
| 1st-4th | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2739 | 14 | 20 | 6 |
| 1st-4th | Dmitry Jakovenko | RUS | 2725 | 21 | 26 | 6 |
| 1st-4th | Nikita Vitiugov | RUS | 2707 | 32 | 23 | 6 |
| 1st-4th | Victor Bologan | MDA | 2668 | 64 | 38 | 6 |
| 5th | Alexander Riazantsev | RUS | 2674 | 58 | 24 | 5.5 |
| 6th-7th | Alexander Onischuk | USA | 2699 | 38 | 34 | 5 |
| 6th-7th | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2661 | 75 | 32 | 5 |
| 8th-9th | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2686 | 47 | 24 | 4.5 |
| 8th-9th | Baadur Jobava | GEO | 2715 | 26 | 26 | 4.5 |
| 10th-11th | Ivan Sokolov | BIH | 2654 | 83 | 41 | 4 |
| 10th-11th | Alexander Motylev | RUS | 2704 | 34 | 30 | 4 |
| 12th | Sergei Rublevsky | RUS | 2704 | 33 | 35 | 3.5 |
The final round tomorrow should be decisive. Surely one of the four pretendants will take some risks to win? However if none of them can gain a full point Riazentsev is only half-a-point behind and might yet be able to catch the leaders.
None of the leaders are playing each other and, quite remarkably, all five have White!
You can follow the games live (two hours earlier tomorrow!) on Live games
You may also like to investigate the following site Chesspro However it is in Russian!
The tenth round will start tomorrow (Saturday) at 8am (London), 9am (Paris) or 1pm (local time).
