Qatar 2015 Rd8: Carlsen smashes Mamedyarov

Qatar Masters 2015

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Round eight

By Nisha Mohota

Photos by Amruta Mokal

Only three of the games on the top boards were decided, the others all ended in a draw. Magnus Carlsen outplayed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in just 25 moves with Black and with 6.5/8 is now sole leader again. Carlsen commented after the game, “He can play extremely well but he doesn’t deal very well with bad trends in his games”. The Azeri grandmaster collapsed soon after getting a slightly unpleasant position out of the opening.

Magnus Carlsen has been in steamroller mode

Half a point behind Carlsen follow Vladimir Kramnik, who beat Sanan Sjugirov, and last year’s champion, Yu Yangyi, who won against Nils Grandelius from Sweden.

Vladimir Kramnik stopped the run of Sanan Sjugirov who started the round as one of three leaders. Kramnik had the white pieces and chose to play the London System which soon led to a complicated middlegame. Here Kramnik slowly gained the upper hand and finally won after 56 moves.

After his win in round eight Vladimir Kramnik has now a live-rating of 2801.

Last year Yu Yangyi won the tournament though he was half a point behind the leader before the last round. This year the Chinese Grandmaster is again trailing half a point behind the leader and will hope for a rerun of the 2014 tournament. In the last and final round Yu Yangyi will play with white against Wesley So while Carlsen has White against Kramnik.

Nils Grandelius (playing with White) during his game against Yu Yangyi

The untitled Chinese player Xu Yinglun (2470) continued his run with a draw against David Howell from England. With this draw Xu secured a GM norm - even if he loses in the final round. His fellow countryman, Chinese IM Lin Chen, kept his chances for a GM norm alive by drawing against Wesley So in round eight, while Indian IM Shardul Gagare, who won against Wei Yi in the first round, also inched closer to a GM norm by drawing against GM Daniele Vocaturo.

Photos by Amruta Mokal of ChessBase India

Replay games of round eight (with times per move)

Top pairings for round eight on 28.12.2015 at 15:00

Standings after eight rounds

Click for complete standings

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