Things are still looking up for Alireza Firouzja, and that's putting it mildly. He got White again, won again (over Krishnan Sasikiran), and extended his lead in the FIDE Grand Prix to a full point over the closest pursuers. It's not as important, but he also kicked his rating up to 2784, putting him at #4 in the world - leapfrogging Magnus Carlsen's forthcoming match opponent, Ian Nepomniachtchi. And Firouzja is just 18! He shouldn't get overconfident, of course: if he loses in round 9, for instance, as many as six players could be tied with him, and there would still be two rounds to go. It's too soon to celebrate, but he is in a great position.
Going into the round, there were three players half a point behind him. He defeated one of them, while the other two - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and the resurgent veteran Alexei Shirov - drew their game, so now the closest pursuers are a full point back. And it's a large group, including not only MVL and Shirov but the eight players in the next score group who all won their games. That group most notably includes Fabiano Caruana, who will have the white pieces against Firouzja in round 9. (As noted above, it's too soon for Firouzja to celebrate.)
Here are the leading pairings for round 9:
1. Caruana (5.5) - Firouzja (6.5)
2. Anton Guijarro (5.5) - Vachier-Lagrave (5.5)
3. Shirov (5.5) - Vitiugov (5.5)
4. Howell (5.5) - Korobov (5.5)
5. Oparin (5.5) - Predke (5.5)
6. Harikrisha (5) - Sevian (5.5)
In addition to Harikrishna, there are 14 other players with 5 points. Remember that there are two Candidates' slots up for grabs here, so if we assume for simplicity's sake that Firouzja will earn one of the spots, there are 25 players within half a point of each other fighting for the other one. The players are now thoroughly motivated, as we saw with all the blood spilled on the top boards. I've given all the decisive games from round 8 featuring players with at least 4.5 points, here, with varying degrees of commentary.