Corus Round 8: Movsesian Takes Sole Lead
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| *Moro has a lot to think about... |
Sergey Movsesian leads the A Group at Corus after former co-leader Karjakin was soundly beaten by his countryman Ivanchuk in round 8.
The only other decisive game of the round was Wang Yue's victory over a badly out-of-sorts Morozevich (pictured) who now languishes in last place with a desperate +2 =1 -5 record so far.
In the B Group, Italian-American prodigy Fabiano Caurana suffered a setback, losing to Vallejo Pons in a Sicilian Rauzer. Nigel Short hung on grimly in a worse position against Volokitin to ensure a draw which maintained his half-point lead at the top of the leader-board. Dutchman Erwin L'Ami won the only other game of the round in the B Group, overcoming Efimenko to join him on an even score of 4/8 in the middle of the standings.
In the C Group, Hillarp Persson won again to pull a full point clear of the field on an impressive 6/8, a full point clear of his nearest rival Wesley So, who lost today after blundering a piece in the endgame when pressing for a win. For the second time in the C Group, only one game in the round was drawn. The draw percentage for the group is only 36%!
The full results in round 8:
| A Group | ||||
| Movsesian, Sergei | Smeets, Jan | ½-½ | 32 | Petroff's Defence |
| Aronian, Levon | Van Wely, Loek | ½-½ | 50 | Slav Defence |
| Radjabov, Teimour | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | ½-½ | 14 | English Symmetrical |
| Carlsen, Magnus | Kamsky, Gata | ½-½ | 16 | Slav Defence |
| Stellwagen, Daniel | Adams, Michael | ½-½ | 29 | Ruy Lopez Chigorin |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | Karjakin, Sergey | 1-0 | 41 | Sicilian Najdorf |
| Wang Yue | Morozevich, Alexander | 1-0 | 45 | Gruenfeld Defence |
| B Group | ||||
| Short, Nigel D | Volokitin, Andrei | ½-½ | 57 | Four Knights |
| Vallejo Pons, Francisco | Caruana, Fabiano | 1-0 | 30 | Sicilian Rauzer |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | Werle, Jan | ½-½ | 72 | Ruy Lopez |
| L'Ami, Erwin | Efimenko, Zahar | 1-0 | 66 | Nimzo Indian |
| Sasikiran, Krishnan | Motylev, Alexander | ½-½ | 32 | Slav Defence |
| Hou Yifan | Navara, David | ½-½ | 31 | Sicilian Scheveningen |
| Reinderman, Dimitri | Mecking, Henrique | ½-½ | 28 | Ruy Lopez Exchange |
| C Group | ||||
| Hillarp Persson, Tiger | Leon Hoyos, Manuel | 1-0 | 44 | Nimzo Indian |
| So, Wesley | Holzke, Frank | 0-1 | 42 | Ruy Lopez |
| Bosboom, Manuel | Harika, Dronavalli | ½-½ | 20 | English Symmetrical |
| Howell, David W L | Iturrizaga, Eduardo | 1-0 | 41 | Caro Kann Panov |
| Nijboer, Friso | Gupta, Abhijeet | 1-0 | 36 | Ruy Lopez Closed |
| Pruijssers, Roeland | Bitalzadeh, Ali | 1-0 | 23 | Sicilian Najdorf |
| Romanishin, Oleg M | Giri, Anish | 0-1 | 98 | Unclassified (A05) |
The standings after round 8:
| A GROUP | ||||
| 1 | Movsesian, Sergei | SVK | 2751 | 5 |
| 2 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2750 | 4½ |
| 3 | Radjabov, Teimour | AZE | 2761 | 4½ |
| 4 | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2717 | 4½ |
| 5 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2706 | 4½ |
| 6 | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2776 | 4 |
| 7 | Smeets, Jan | NED | 2601 | 4 |
| 8 | Van Wely, Loek | NED | 2625 | 4 |
| 9 | Adams, Michael | ENG | 2712 | 4 |
| 10 | Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2725 | 4 |
| 11 | Stellwagen, Daniel | NED | 2612 | 3½ |
| 12 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2779 | 3½ |
| 13 | Wang Yue | CHN | 2739 | 3½ |
| 14 | Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2771 | 2½ |
| B GROUP | ||||
| 1 | Short, Nigel D | ENG | 2663 | 5½ |
| 2 | Volokitin, Andrei | UKR | 2671 | 5 |
| 3 | Motylev, Alexander | RUS | 2676 | 5 |
| 4 | Navara, David | CZE | 2638 | 4½ |
| 5 | Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2646 | 4½ |
| 6 | Vallejo Pons, Francisco | ESP | 2702 | 4½ |
| 7 | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2687 | 4½ |
| 8 | Efimenko, Zahar | UKR | 2688 | 4 |
| 9 | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2603 | 4 |
| 10 | Sasikiran, Krishnan | IND | 2711 | 3 |
| 11 | Werle, Jan | NED | 2607 | 3 |
| 12 | Hou Yifan | CHN | 2571 | 3 |
| 13 | Reinderman, Dimitri | NED | 2549 | 3 |
| 14 | Mecking, Henrique | BRA | 2567 | 2½ |
| C GROUP | ||||
| 1 | Hillarp Persson, Tiger | SWE | 2586 | 6 |
| 2 | So, Wesley | PHI | 2627 | 5 |
| 3 | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2569 | 4½ |
| 4 | Holzke, Frank | GER | 2524 | 4½ |
| 5 | Bosboom, Manuel | NED | 2418 | 4½ |
| 6 | Howell, David W L | ENG | 2622 | 4½ |
| 7 | Harika, Dronavalli | IND | 2473 | 4 |
| 8 | Nijboer, Friso | NED | 2560 | 3½ |
| 9 | Pruijssers, Roeland | NED | 2444 | 3½ |
| 10 | Bitalzadeh, Ali | NED | 2400 | 3½ |
| 11 | Giri, Anish | RUS | 2469 | 3 |
| 12 | Romanishin, Oleg M | UKR | 2533 | 3 |
| 13 | Leon Hoyos, Manuel | MEX | 2542 | 3 |
| 14 | Iturrizaga, Eduardo | VEN | 2528 | 2½ |
*Photo of Alexander Morozevich courtesy of Peter Doggers at ChessVibes.
