Round Eight At Amber
Magnus Carlsen lost like a complete idiot today. Before you complain about that remark, I should say that those are Carlsen's words, not mine. His harsh self-criticism can be found in his latest blog.
Carlsen was commenting on his blindfold game with Vladimir Kramnik which, as you might have guessed, he lost.
Vassily Ivanchuk could only draw both his games against back-marker Leinier Dominguez, but it was enough to extend his lead to a full point with just three rounds remaining.
Monday is another rest day, so the ninth round will be on Tuesday.
Magnus Carlsen losing "like an idiot" against Vladimir Kramnik (picture from the official site).
The results in round eight:
| Blind | Svidler-Ponomariov | 1-0 |
| Karjakin-Grischuk | 0-1 | |
| Ivanchuk-Dominguez | ½-½ | |
| Blind | Smeets-Gashimov | ½-½ |
| Carlsen-Kramnik | 0-1 | |
| Aronian-Gelfand | ½-½ | |
| Rapid | Ponomariov-Svidler | 1-0 |
| Grischuk-Karjakin | ½-½ | |
| Dominguez-Ivanchuk | ½-½ | |
| Rapid | Gashimov-Smeets | 1-0 |
| Kramnik-Carlsen | ½-½ | |
| Gelfand-Aronian | ½-½ |
The standings after round eight:
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 11 |
| Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 10 |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 9.5 |
| Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 9.5 |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 9 |
| Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 9 |
| Gashimov, Vugar | AZE | 8.5 |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 8.5 |
| Aronian, Levon | ARM | 7 |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 6.5 |
| Smeets, Jan | NED | 4 |
| Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 3.5 |
Some games from round eight:
