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In Round 8 of Tal Memorial due in Moscow Magnus Carlsen won against Ruslan Ponomariov. Kramnik ended in draw with Leko. The other pairings also registered draws.

So, Vladimir Kramnik has taken the sole lead with 5,5 points. Anand and Ivanchuk share 2-3 horizontals with 5 points each. Magnus Carlsen follows with 4,5 points. Levon Aronian and Boris Gelfand have scored 4, Ponomariov, Morozevich, Leko and Svidler have 3 points each.

In Round 9, Aronian will play against Anand. Ivanchuk’s rival is Kramnik, with the other pairings being as follows: Leko-Carlsen, Svidler-Gelfand, Ponomariov-Morozevich.

Magnus Carlsen (Norway) – Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) 1:0

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O Ne5 11. Qe1 Qc7 12. h4 b4 13. Nce2 Nc4 14. Nf4 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 Qb6 16. Bc4 Qc5 17. Qb3 d5 18. exd5 Bd6 19. Nfxe6 fxe6 20. dxe6 Be7 21. Qd3 O-O 22. Bb3 Rd8 23. g5 Nh7 24. gxh6 Qh5 25. Qe4 Qxh6+ 26. Kb1 Ra7 27. Nf5 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Qf6 29. Rd7 Bxd7 30. exd7+ Kf8 31. Qd5 1:0.

Alexander Morozevich (Russia) – Peter Svidler (Russia) 0,5:0,5

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. O-O Nf6 9. Bg5 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Re1 c5 13. b3 Bb7 14. Qh5 h6 15. f4 O-O 16. Qe2 f6 17. exf6 Rxf6 18. Rad1 Qd6 19. f5 exf5 20. Nxd5 Bxd5 21. Bc4 Nb6 22. Bxd5+ Nxd5 23. Qf3 Rd8 24. c4 Re6 25. Rxe6 Qxe6 26. cxd5 Qe5 27. Qd3 Rd6 28. h3 f4 29. Kf2 Kh8 30. Rd2 g5 31. Kf1 Kg7 32. Qc4 h5 33. Qxc5 g4 34. hxg4 hxg4 35. Qd4 Kf6 36. Qd3 a5 37. Rd1 Kg5 38. Kf2 Qb2+ 39. Rd2 Qe5 40. Rd1 Qb2+ 41. Qd2 Qxd2+ 42. Rxd2 Kf5 43. g3 fxg3+ 44. Kxg3 Ke4 45. a3 Rxd5 46. Rxd5 Kxd5 47. b4 axb4 48. axb4 Kc4 49. Kxg4 Kxb4 1/2:1/2.