There were a lot of draws today, but the battle of the headliners, Carlsen and Kramnik, provided plenty of excitement. Unfortunately, some very good chess alternated with blunders in both games. In the first game, Carlsen chose a gambit line in the Vienna QGD, but unaccountably seemed completely unprepared. Kramnik convincingly outplayed him, but faced with the very last problem Carlsen could pose, Kramnik blundered - giving Carlsen excellent drawing chances. Carlsen missed it, and went on to lose the game "properly," as if the exchange of errors never happened.
In game 2, a Bayonet King's Indian, Carlsen spoiled a position where he was no more than slightly worse with a blunder, after which he was two pawns down for nothing. Normally, Kramnik would be as good as gold in such a situation, but not today. As in game 1, there was an exchange of unseen blunders (42.Qc2??, 42...Rc1??), but Kramnik's third blunder of the day - after a serious error by Carlsen! - cost him the win. I guess the players are wearing down at the end of a long tournament. The blunders notwithstanding, however, Carlsen deserves credit for his resilient defense in a long-lost position.
Ivanchuk started the day half a point ahead of Carlsen, but was only able to pad his lead by another half point, despite the chance to face tailender Dominguez. In both games Ivanchuk made it to a rook ending with an extra pawn, but you know what they say about "all" rook endings. Both games were drawn.
Gelfand gained ground on Carlsen (but not Ivanchuk) with a pair of draws against Aronian, and is tied for third with Kramnik. Another half a point back are Grischuk and Karjakin, due to the former's 1.5-.5 victory over the latter. Here are the full (combined) standings:
Combined Standings After Round 8:
1. Ivanchuk 11
2. Carlsen 10
3-4. Kramnik, Gelfand 9.5
5-6. Grischuk, Karjakin 9
7-8. Gashimov, Svidler 8.5
9. Aronian 7
10. Ponomariov 6.5
11. Smeets 4
12. Dominguez 3.5
Tomorrow is a rest day; here are the round 9 pairings, coming Tuesday:
Gashimov - Ivanchuk
Kramnik - Svidler
Gelfand - Karjakin
Ponomariov - Aronian
Grischuk - Smeets
Dominguez - Carlsen
Finally, the two Carlsen-Kramnik games can be found here, with my comments, and the tournament website is here.