Carlsen closes in on tournament leader Ivanchuk
In Round 9 of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Vasily Ivanchuk defended first place in the overall standings with two draws against Vugar Gashimov. With two rounds and four games to go the Ukrainian grandmaster has a half-point lead over Magnus Carlsen, who defeated Leinier Dominguez of Cuba 1½-½. Vladimir Kramnik also improved his position, moving into third place, half a point behind Carlsen and one full point behind Ivanchuk. Kramnik shares third place with Alexander Grischuk, who defeated Jan Smeets 2-0. In Round 10 Ivanchuk plays Kramnik, while Carlsen faces Ponomariov. Grischuk meets Aronian.
| Tuesday 23 March Round IX | |||
| 14.30 | Blind | Gashimov-Ivanchuk | ½-½ |
| Kramnik-Svidler | ½-½ | ||
| Gelfand-Karjakin | ½-½ | ||
| 16.00 | Blind | Ponomariov-Aronian | 1-0 |
| Grischuk-Smeets | 1-0 | ||
| Dominguez-Carlsen | ½-½ | ||
| 17.45 | Rapid | Ivanchuk-Gashimov | ½-½ |
| Svidler-Kramnik | 0-1 | ||
| Karjakin-Gelfand | ½-½ | ||
| 19.15 | Rapid | Aronian-Ponomariov | 1-0 |
| Smeets-Grischuk | 0-1 | ||
| Carlsen-Dominguez | 1-0 | ||
Full report here: http://amberchess2010.com/RoundReport9.html
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Carlsen rules for sure.