Topalov Blanks Karpov 2-0, In The Van
By Arvind Aaron
Veselin Topalov joined the leaders with a repeat 2-0 of last year over Anatoly Karpov. He won both games by dominating. In the second one it was easy with Karpov trying to rebound and paying for it. Anand played brilliantly to trounce Van Wely while Kramnik showed class in beating Ivanchuk to keep their top places.
Anand and Kramnik lead the combined section together with Topalov and the rapid section by themself. Topalov leads the blindfold and is also undefeated. "It's going very well", Topalov said. Leko bounced back to win an opposite colour bishop ending to draw Almasi 1-1 in the match between the two new comers.
The results (eighth round)
Rapid
Blindfold
Shirov-Gelfand
Draw Gelfand-Shirov
0-1
Kramnik-Ivanchuk
1-0 Ivanchuk-Kramnik
Draw
Topalov-Karpov
1-0 Karpov-Topalov
1-0
Van Wely-Anand
Draw Anand-Van Wely
1-0
Almasi-Leko
1-0 Leko-Almasi
1-0
Piket-Ljubojevic
1-0 Ljubojevic-Piket
Draw
Standings: 1-3 Anand, Kramnik, Topalov 11/16, 4 Leko 9, 5 Shirov 8.5, 6 Piket 8, 7 Ljubojevic 7, 8-9 Almasi, Gelfand 6.5 each, 10-11 Ivanchuk, Karpov 6 each, 12 Van Wely 5.5.