ChessMexico, Rd 7: After seven rounds, at half-time, we've got Anand leading the pack with 5 points, Gelfand at second with 4.5 points, and the reigning World Champion Kramnik at third with 4 points. Well, Anand and Kramnik do not surprise me, but Gelfand does. If my memory serves me right, Gelfand drew almost all of his Candidates Matches game except for one win and here he is almost at the top in the championships. It seems predicting results in a chess tournament is like predicting profit at the stock market. This is not to deny Gelfand his due, of course. Earlier, I predicted Kramnik and Aronian on top and if I were to add one more name it would be Anand's. So, I am still hoping that Aronian turns in a string of victories in the second half of this tournament. Let's look at two positions in the Anand-Grischuk game:

Play continued 47...Rff8 ( 47...Rf1+ 48. Kf1 Rd7 [ 48...Kf8 49. Rh7 Nd3 49. Ng6+ ] 49. Rd7 ) 48. Rf8+ Kf8 49. Rh7 c3 50. Ng6+ 1-0

This is the final position. Let's take a look: If 50...Kg8, then 51. Rh8+ Kf7 52. Rd8 Nc6 53. Rc8 ( that C pawn did not have a chance to promote really ) Ke6 54. Nf8+ Kd5 55. Rc6 and black has lost all avenues for counterplay.