The World Champion defeated Boris Gelfand 1.5-0.5, while his nearest rival, Vasily Ivanchuk, lost 0.5-1.5 against Magnus Carlsen. Kramnik continued his fantastic run in the blindfold with a win that earned him magnanimous words of praise from his opponent. The new runner-up in the combined standings is Vishy Anand. The Indian grandmaster beat Paco Vallejo 2-0 and dominates the rapid competition with a 6.5/8 score.

Monday is a rest day. Round 9 will start on Tuesday, March 27, at 3 p.m. local time.

Loek van Wely continued a lacklustre performance in his blindfold game against Levon Aronian. A strange moment of hesitation in the opening (14.Bf4 and 15.Bd2 didn't help him much, 14.e4 would have given him good play) landed him in a cramped position. However, Aronian also had his weak moment, when he played 23…Ba6? which ran into 24.Ne5!. Van Wely's relief didn't last long. Inexplicably he lost material with 29.Bf1? when 29.Qf2 was a more sensible option. Miraculously he got a last chance on move 32. He should have tried 32.f5 Rf8 33.fxe6 Rxf1+ 34.Kg2 Bxb2 35.Kxf1 Bxe5 even if here too Black would be better. After the move he played, 32.Qxc1, the game was soon over.

In the rapid game Van Wely was able to use an opening idea (6…Bb4+ followed by 7…e5) that in fact he had prepared for Kramnik after their encounter in Wijk aan Zee. However, in their game here Kramnik didn't go 6.Bd3, but 6.Bb2. That's why the Dutchman was pleased to see Aronian put his bishop on d3 and eagerly he presented his idea. White's best chance was giving up an exchange and that is what Aronian did without hesitation. After a short middlegame skirmish the players arrived at an endgame that was objectively equal. Perhaps Black's manoeuvres were not all equally exact, but after 54 moves the draw was a fact.

'We're both tired,' commented Alexander Morozevich after his win in the blindfold game over Peter Leko. Perhaps they both were, but the one who clearly showed it was Leko, who played a poor game. His opponent condemned 15…Bh6 ('a lousy move') where he should have gone 15…Bf8 followed by …Bd6 to get some control over the centre. One big advantage for Morozevich was that in fact he was playing his old love the Chigorin Defence with colours reversed. As a result he knew exactly what to do whereas his opponent was searching for the right plan on unfamiliar ground. Morozevich felt that he was practically winning after he had been allowed to push 22.b3 and 23.c4. Black got under too much pressure and with only one minute left on the clock it didn't come as a total surprise when Leko lost material and the game.

The rapid game was a completely different story. 'I felt so bad after the first game that I had no choice but to play a good second game,' said Leko. And he did. At the board he improved on Anand's game against Morozevich from Round 1. Anand went 12.Rh3, Leko was happy about his move 12.f4. White got a great game, opened up the black kingside and crowned his efforts with the subtlety 23.Nf5! that left Black fighting a hopeless cause.

'I think I played a good game,' Vladimir Kramnik said after his win in the blindfold game against Boris Gelfand. 'I was pressing and Black made no obvious mistakes.' As the World Champion isn't the sort of player who loves to pour praise on himself these were telling words. Indeed it was fascinating to see how Kramnik obtained a small advantage and gradually turned on the screws. The only move of his opponent that he mildly criticized was 19…Ba5, where he felt that 19…Na5 would have been better. The rest of the game is recommended study material for anyone who wants to work on his or her endgame technique. Or as Gelfand put it, 'Incredible how he played this. I can only think of Fischer or Karpov who could do this. Most grandmasters wouldn’t even manage this with sight of the board.'

The rapid game was a complicated Slav. Playing the black pieces Kramnik managed to get an edge in a difficult middlegame. Again he was pressing and again the players ended up in a rook endgame in which Kramnik was a pawn up. But this time had to be satisfied with a draw. As Gelfand explained, 'I know this endgame well, as I drew it against Karpov in Reggio Emilia.' Small wonder. 'I learned it when I was ten.'

The blindfold game between Vasily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen got off to a bad start for the Norwegian grandmaster. His manoeuvre 16…Nd7, 17…Nc5 wasn't too fortunate and gave Ivanchuk everything he could hope for. The Ukrainian's advantage kept growing and growing and after 40 moves he was totally winning. However, strangely enough this circumstance didn't boost Ivanchuk's confidence and although Carlsen was fully aware that he was completely lost he sensed that it was too early to despair. Indeed Ivanchuk lost control and after 55.Qg7 Carlsen realized that a draw by perpetual check was in sight. After 58 moves this draw was a fact.

In the rapid game Ivanchuk needed a win to stay in the race with Kramnik, but he never came anywhere close. Apparently, the Ukrainian didn't feel at home in the opening they played. In any case it was hard to explain why he went 16…Bf6? ('A horrible move' - Carlsen) where 16…Bd6 would have led to an unclear position. After 20.d7 Carlsen felt he was winning and with 25.Rxh5 he dealt the final blow. Delighted with his first win in this Amber tournament, Carlsen treated his father to a relieved two-handed slap on the shoulders.

Hoping for a double-edged fight Peter Svidler opted for a Scheveningen Sicilian in his blindfold game against Teimour Radjabov. The position certainly became sharp but that was the only part of his hopes that was fulfilled. After the game he was unhappy about 25…Bc6, admitting that he should have played 25…g6, as now he ended up in a highly compromised position. Once he had obtained a clear advantage Radjabov played brilliantly, as Svidler put it, although the Russian felt that instead of 37.Qxe8+ White would have an easier win after 37.Bxc6 Qxc6+ 38.Nd5. Radjabov was still easily winning when he 'forgot' that Black had a pawn on a6 which turned his 38.Nb5 into a blunder which simply lost a piece. And the game.

Perhaps the rapid game was even more painful for the Azerbaijani grandmaster. As Svidler summed up the game, 'This was not his day. He played horribly. This was not Radjabov.' Once again opting for 1.d4 Svidler had no problems in the opening, particularly not after Radjabov didn't take on h3, but played the mysterious 19…h5 which left him with a highly unpleasant position after 20.h4. In fact he could only wait for the blows that were coming and after the first big one, 27.Rxe5, he will have known that the end wasn’t far off.

For many moves Vishy Anand had the feeling that his blindfold game against Paco Vallejo was a 'smooth game.' 'I was fine, except for the fact that I couldn't see the pieces,' he smiled afterwards. The game developed quietly and just like the Indian grandmaster himself everyone had the feeling that he was converting his advantage with a steady hand. When Vallejo played 37…g4, Anand was slightly puzzled. When he also pushed 38…g3 he was even more puzzled. But after he had taken the pawn he suddenly realized that Black had created a second passed pawn. In the phase that followed Anand miraculously managed to stay in the game and looking back he wasn't sure if he'd been lost or if the position was a draw. Once he had survived these critical moments things were going his way again. The game turned around for a second time and now Anand remained alert and claimed the full point.

Anand also won the rapid game. This time Vallejo had even more reason to be unhappy. When Black played the opening a bit too optimistic, White got a tremendous position. Vallejo wasn't quite sure if he had been winning, but in any case it was hard to imagine that he would lose from this position. He did when he let Anand back into the game. Or, as Leko aptly commented in the hospitality lounge, 'When Vishy gets a chance he uses it. That's why he is Vishy.'

Results round 8:

Blindfold: Van Wely-Aronian 0-1, Morozevich-Leko 1-0, Kramnik-Gelfand 1-0, Ivanchuk-Carlsen 1/2-1/2, Radjabov-Svidler 0-1, Anand-Vallejo 1-0.

Rapid: Aronian-Van Wely 1/2-1/2, Leko-Morozevich 1-0, Gelfand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2, Carlsen-Ivanchuk 1-0, Svidler-Radjabov 1-0, Vallejo-Anand 0-1.

Standings after the eighth round: 1. Kramnik 12.0; 2. Anand 10.5; 3. Ivanchuk 10.0; 4-5. Aronian, Svidler 9.5 each; 6-7. Gelfand, Morozevich 8.0 each; 8-9. Leko, Carlsen 7.5 each; 10. Radjabov 6.0; 11. Vallejo 4.0; 12. Van Wely 3.5.

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