Photo courtesy chessvibes.com

by Jennifer Shahade

In a dramatic eighth round at Wijk Aan Zee (January 12-28), Topalov leapfrogged into clear first with a win against Anand. Meanwhile Radjabov, who has been leading since the first round lost to Levon Aronian. A well-calculated finesse by Aronian, (Nc3!) ended in a pawn-up endgame for the Armenian Grandmaster, which he dutifully ground down. Peter Svidler and Sergei Karjakin also drew blood this Sunday, with wins over Motylev and Navara.

501

500

Wijk Aan Zee Corus "A"
Standings after Eight Rounds

1.V. Topalov- 6
2. T.Radjabov- 5.5
3-6- S.Karjakin, L.Aronian, P.Svidler and V.Kramnik
7-8. D. Navara, V.Anand
9. R.Ponomariov- 3.5
10-12. L.Van Wely, A.Motylev and S.Tiviakov- 3
13. M.Carlsen-2.5
14. A. Shirov- 1.5