Aerosvit Round 8
Carlsen retains 2-point lead
Another round, another win by Magnus Carlsen. Oh no, hang on a minute, he only drew today! 
Well done to Alexander Onischuk who held the tournament leader to a draw with the Black pieces.
There were still 3 decisive games in the round, as other players took the opportunity to remind us that they can play a bit as well...
Vassily Ivanchuk (pictured) employed the Grunfeld to beat Alexei Shirov in fine style to move into joint second place with Karjakin and Eljanov on 4.5/8. Loek Van Wely put a second win on the scoreboard by overcoming Andrei Volokitin's soporific choice of Lasker's Defence to the QGD. The final player wearing a victor's smile was Evgeny Alekseev who beat the unfortunate Nisipeanu in a Sicilian Scheveningen.
The full results in round 8:
| Carlsen, Magnus | - Onischuk, Alexander | ½-½ | 29 | E06 | Catalan |
| Eljanov, Pavel | - Jakovenko, Dmitry | ½-½ | 24 | D37 | QGD 5.Bf4 |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | - Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | 1-0 | 51 | B82 | Sicilian Scheveningen |
| Svidler, Peter | - Karjakin, Sergey | ½-½ | 40 | E12 | Queens Indian Petrosian |
| Shirov, Alexei | - Ivanchuk, Vassily | 0-1 | 36 | D85 | Gruenfeld Defence |
| Van Wely, Loek | - Volokitin, Andrei | 1-0 | 41 | D56 | Queens Gambit Lasker's Defence |
The standings after round 8:
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2765 | * | 1 | . | 1 | ½ | ½ | . | . | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6½ |
| 2 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2740 | 0 | * | ½ | . | 1 | . | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | . | ½ | 4½ |
| 3 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2732 | . | ½ | * | . | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | . | ½ | 4½ |
| 4 | Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 2687 | 0 | . | . | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4½ |
| 5 | Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2711 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | . | . | ½ | 1 | 0 | . | 4 |
| 6 | Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2746 | ½ | . | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | . | ½ | . | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Jakovenko, Dmitry | RUS | 2711 | . | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | . | 1 | ½ | 4 |
| 8 | Volokitin, Andrei | UKR | 2684 | . | ½ | 1 | . | . | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2740 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | 1 | ½ | * | . | 1 | . | 3½ |
| 10 | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | ROU | 2684 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | ½ | . | * | 1 | . | 3 |
| 11 | Van Wely, Loek | NED | 2677 | 0 | . | . | ½ | 1 | . | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 3 |
| 12 | Onischuk, Alexander | USA | 2664 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | . | 0 | ½ | 0 | . | . | ½ | * | 2½ |
