Corus 2010 Round 9

So far Corus 2010 tournament in Wijk Aan Zee is great and kicking ass. Until round 9, the candidate winner for each group is still unclear thus provide good entertainment for chess fan. In Group A, Shirov having 5/5 previously now at 6.5/9 out of 13 rounds. He is now must share the first place with Kramnik who climb out after beating Carlsen in round 9. Nakamura who also counted as close rival again lost the game to Karjakin, this making Carlsen and Karjakin at 5.5 and Nakamura himself 5. Nakamura share the 5 point with Ivanchuk and Dominguez.

Group B see the magician Anish Giri feld for the beauty charming Anna Muzychuck in 55 moves of Sicilian Rossolimo, but it was a bad day for Black Sicilian because it was White who got the maximum point. Giri still leading 6.5 but Ni Hua and L'Ami closely follow by half point. Wesley So is at fourth position and he is yet to play Giri and Ni Hua, which is to be the great games to see.

Group C again see the leader fall in Black side of Sicilian where Ray Robson suffered first defeat to Li Chao in 34 moves Sicilian Dragon. Now Li Chao is leading with 6.5 with Robson, Vocaturo and Robin Swinkels follow by half point also.

Some of my questions already has a hint of answer here ;
1. Who will ended Carlsen domination over the last two months ?
Kramnik is the man, defeating Carlsen and maybe also his mentor Kasparov, said to be his best game recently.

2. How will Anand handle this tournament despite his duel with Topalov very soon ?
So far Anand still 'undefeated', but playing a ultra safe tournament but also dissapointing in term of his status as favorite. Anand now at 4.5/9.

3. Kramnik, also having good result recently, winning Tal and not dissapointing at London. He seem ready to challenge Carlsen despite losing one game to him.
Kramnik is now strongly considered as candidate winner by sharing first place with Shirov and said to be playing best chess so far.

4. And of course, Hikaru Nakamura. Another point of attraction. He got a Gold Medal in pocket but moment of truth is now.
Nakamura give a good start and rank #5 after 9 rounds, and as predicted play very attractive chess game, suitable for live setup for me.

5. The rest are like Ivanchuck, what version of him after his heartbreaking remark at World Cup? And who is be the "outsider" ?
The clear 'outsider' is Shirov, he is now need to play Kramnik, Karjakin, Dominguez and Anand to survive this status. If he can draw all of them, he is at least at 8.5 out of 13, but then Kramnik will need to win at least one of his remaining opponents which are : Anand, Ivanchuk , Karjakin and Shirov himself.

All Group Standing see TWIC.

Official site : www.coruschess.com
Chessdom all games with commentary.