Linares Round 8

Alexander Grischuk (pictured) closed the gap to leader Veselin Topalov with a win against Vugar Gashimov in round eight at Linares.

Gashimov's brave use of the Benoni defence finally got him into trouble as Grischuk achieved a clear advantage early in the game, and held onto through mutual time trouble to seal the win.

Topalov came close to winning against Aronian in their encounter, but the Armenian survived to eek out his eight consecutive draw.

Vallejo Pons joined the long line of GMs before him who failed to make a dent in Gelfand's trusty Petroff defence.

Monday is a rest day, so round nine - the penultimate round - is on Tuesday, when Grischuk will have the white pieces against Topalov.

The standings after round eight: