Shirov continues to Lead In Corus Chess 2010

At the Corus Chess 2010 in Wijk ann Zee, Netherlands, 25th January 2010, Alexei Shirov fended off Magnus Carlsen’s aggressive attempt to take revenge for a defeat in an other chess event last year, notching up a half point to maintain a minimal lead in the A-Group standings after Sunday’s eighth round in the Corus Tournament at windy Wijk-aan-Zee.
The two grandmasters faced each other in the same sharp line of the Sveshnikov they had followed in their encounter at the Mtel Masters Tournament in Sophia, Bulgaria, last year. That game ended in a win for Shirov, so it was hardly a surprise that Carlsen was the first to deviate in Sunday’s action.

Here is the overall standings after round 8 of play in Corus Chess 2010.

1. A. Shirov 6 2. M. Carlsen V. Kramnik 5½ 4. H. Nakamura 5 5. S. Karjakin L. Dominguez P. Leko V. Ivanchuk 4½ 9. V. Anand 4 10. F. Caruana 3½ 11. S. Tiviakov N. Short 2½ 13. L. van Wely 2 14. J. Smeets 1½