Ivanchuk Leads Tal Memorial
It's tough at the top. After winning in round 6 at the Mikhail Tal Memorial to take the lead - and the no.1 spot on the unofficial 'live' rankings list, Alexander Morozevich then lost to Vassily Ivanchuk (pictured) in a thrilling game in round 7, and lost again to Gata Kamsky in round 8. So Vishy Anand is back on top of live ranking list - for now at least.
Against Ivanchuk, Morozevich played the Grunfeld and fearlessly sacrificed pawns on c5 and b6 to gain the initative. However, a final pawn sac on e5 proved to be a sac to far and Ivanchuk took control to win the game, and take the lead.
Rounds 7 and 8 saw lots of exciting chess and many decisive games. Alexei Shirov is having a nightmare tournament, but after losing badly to Ponomariov in round 7 he recovered to win against Mamedyarov in round 8. Kramnik played a spectacular sacrifice against Gelfand in round 7, but only managed a draw - however, he gained his second win of the tournament in round 8 against Alekseev to move back into respectable plus-score territory.
Kamsky sacrificed pawns against against Leko in round 7, but ultimately lost to a neat trap. He bounced back to win against Morozevich in round 8.
Phew! So Ivanchuk leads by a full point with one round to go. All the results and many of the games are below.
The results in round 7:
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | - Morozevich, Alexander | 1-0 | 60 | D87 | Gruenfeld Botvinnik |
| Gelfand, Boris | - Kramnik, Vladimir | ½-½ | 47 | D45 | Anti-Meran Variations |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | - Shirov, Alexei | 1-0 | 38 | B30 | Sicilian Rossolimo |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 1-0 | 38 | C10 | French Rubinstein |
| Kamsky, Gata | - Leko, Peter | 0-1 | 48 | A46 | Queen's Pawn Opening |
The results in round 8:
| Morozevich, Alexander | - Kamsky, Gata | 0-1 | 69 | B12 | Caro Kann Advanced |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | - Alekseev, Evgeny | 1-0 | 41 | A37 | English Symmetrical |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | - Ivanchuk, Vassily | ½-½ | 89 | C92 | Ruy Lopez Chigorin |
| Leko, Peter | - Gelfand, Boris | ½-½ | 24 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
| Shirov, Alexei | - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 1-0 | 33 | B46 | Sicilian Paulsen |
The standings with one round to go:
| 1 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2781 | 5½ |
| 2 | Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2788 | 4½ |
| 3 | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2720 | 4½ |
| 4 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2788 | 4½ |
| 5 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2718 | 4½ |
| 6 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2741 | 4 |
| 7 | Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2708 | 3½ |
| 8 | Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2723 | 3½ |
| 9 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2742 | 3 |
| 10 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2741 | 2½ |
Final round pairings:
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Vassily Ivanchuk
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Alexei Shirov |
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Gata Kamsky
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Ruslan Ponomariov |
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Boris Gelfand
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Alexander Morozevich |
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Evgeny Alekseev
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Peter Leko |
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Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
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Vladimir Kramnik |
