Yesterday, Kramnik was trailing Carlsen by 1/2 point. They faced each other with Kramnik having White. Kramnik prevailed and took over the sole lead. Today, Jakovenko is trailing Kramnik by 1/2 point and he will face Kramnik with White. In the mean time, Leko and Carlsen are also trailing Kramnik by 1/2 point but both will have Black against Bacrot and Naiditsch. Two rounds to go! Anything can still happen!
Here are the matchups for round 9:
| Jakovenko, Dmitry | – | Kramnik, Vladimir |
| Bacrot, Etienne | – | Leko, Peter |
| Naiditsch, Arkadij | – | Carlsen, Magnus |
Here are the standings after 8 rounds:
| 1. | Kramnik, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2759 | 5 | |||||||||||||
| 2-4. | Carlsen, Magnus | g | NOR | 2772 | 4½ | |||||||||||||
| 2-4. | Leko, Peter | g | HUN | 2756 | 4½ | |||||||||||||
| 2-4. | Jakovenko, Dmitry | g | RUS | 2760 | 4½ | |||||||||||||
| 5. | Bacrot, Etienne | g | FRA | 2721 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 6. | Naiditsch, Arkadij | g | GER | 2697 | 2½ |
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Carlsen will come back.
Magnus will be 5 1/2 today.