ChessMexico 07, Rd. 10 : It was again one of those days for draws except for one game between Aronian and Grischuk. Here is the position on move 39...d2 ( below ). That pawn was almost home and it just shows us how these games are decided via razor's edge. Aronian makes a dash for victory with 40. Rf7+ Ke8 ( forced ) 41. Nf6+ Bf6 ( forced ) 42. Rg7+ ( discovered check ) and black resigned. If 42...Kf8, then 43. h8(Q) checkmate.


Round 9 : In my predictions, I categorized Morozevich as a player who could rock the boat and upset the balance of things. He did just at in Round 9 when he defeated Kramnik who is now 1.5 points behind Anand after ten rounds. Kramnik's only win in ten rounds, ironically, was against Morozevich. The rest of his games were drawn. I don't think Kramnik is putting in an impressive performance in this tournament. Now, unbelievably, Gelfand also lost his game against Grischuk. They drew the first time around. After ten rounds, Gelfand is still in second place except that now he is a full point behind Anand. Anand, by the way, has scored three wins and Gelfand, Aronian, and Morozevich have two wins. As for losses, Gelfand, Kramnik, and Leko have lost only once. Anand is unbeaten.

This world championship is turning out to be just another super grandmaster tournament. I don't get the sense that one player is beating another for the crown. It's a tournament, and so you earn as many points as possible and hope that others help you along with upsets. There is no gladiatorial combat here, mano a mano. I've seen more excitement in the Aronian-Carlsen match than in this tournament.