Carlsen And Wang Hao Neck And Neck
Magnus Carlsen and Wang Hao both won their 8th round games at the Biel GM Tournament to remain locked together as co-leaders on 16 points.
Carlsen inflicted another defeat on poor Victor Bologan, while Wang Hao continued his excellent form by beating Hikaru Nakamura with black.
With today's victory Magnus Carlsen's live rating reaches 2846 Elo, his highest ever, and very close to Garry Kasparov's all-time record of 2851 Elo!
The third game today was also decisive, with Anish Giri keeping the leaders very much in his sights by beating Etienne Bacrot.
The standings after round eight (3-1-0 scoring system):
| # | Name | Nat | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2837 | 16 |
| 2 | Wang Hao | CHN | 2739 | 16 |
| 3 | Anish Giri | NED | 2696 | 15 |
| 4 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2778 | 10 |
| 5 | Etienne Bacrot | FRA | 2713 | 6 |
| 6 | Victor Bologan* | MDA | 2732 | 1 |
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Didn't we just play one another? Bologan suffers again at the hand of the world #1.
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The remaining games:
| Round 9 (1st Aug) |
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| Etienne Bacrot | v | Hikaru Nakamura |
| Anish Giri | v | Magnus Carlsen |
| Victor Bologan | v | Wang Hao |
| Round 10 (2nd Aug) |
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| Hikaru Nakamura | v | Victor Bologan |
| Wang Hao | v | Anish Giri |
| Magnus Carlsen | v | Etienne Bacrot |
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The festival also includes many other events including a Master Tournament, Main Tournament, Rapid Tournament and a Blitz Tournament.
The Biel Chess Festival runs from 21 July - 3 August. The main GM tournament is a 6-player double round-robin which started on Monday 23 July and will finish on 2 August. Magnus Carlsen is defending the title he won in 2011.
Grandmaster Tournament games start at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) and a live broadcast is available at this link.
Picture from the official website. Games via TWIC.
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* Bologan's score includes 2 losses by Alexander Morozevich who withdrew due to illness.
