Round 8 results
| Bacrot, Etienne | – Navara, David | ½-½ | |
| Georgiadis, Nico | – Leko, Peter | ½-½ | |
| Morozevich, Alexander | – Studer, Noel | 1-0 | |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | – Harikrishna, P. | 0-1 | |
| Vaganian, Rafael A | – Hou, Yifan | 0-1 |
Standings after 8 rounds
| 1. | Harikrishna, Pentala | gm | IND | 2737 | * | 1 | ½ | . | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5½ | |
| 2. | Hou, Yifan | gm | CHN | 2666 | 0 | * | . | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5½ | |
| 3. | Georgiadis, Nico | im | SUI | 2496 | ½ | . | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 4. | Bacrot, Etienne | gm | FRA | 2715 | . | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5. | Morozevich, Alexander | gm | RUS | 2675 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6. | Ponomariov, Ruslan | gm | UKR | 2699 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | ½ | . | 4 | |
| 7. | Leko, Peter | gm | HUN | 2678 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 8. | Navara, David | gm | CZE | 2737 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | . | ½ | 3 | |
| 9. | Vaganian, Rafael A | gm | ARM | 2562 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | . | * | 1 | 2 | |
| 10. | Studer, Noel | im | SUI | 2493 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 |
Whether she finishes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th (a remote mathematical possibility), this has been an extraordinarily fine result for Hou. She is clearly the strongest female player in the world right now, notwithstanding the fact she no longer has the FIDE title (which has become yet another joke).