Gibtelecom (Gibraltar) 2010

Things are tightening up at the top - I actually thought R9, which was held today, was the final round! Wrongo, Jan. Goddess, I can't stand the tension!  I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow.  The top 4 male players will face off against each other.  Will they go for a win or will they go for GM draws and take the chance that the tier of players right underneath them will go for draws too, and not too many will come out with wins to dilute the prize pool. I'm rooting for the chess femmes all the way.

The chess femmes will have their own battle going on, and I think each of them will be going for wins, regardless of what is happening in the larger Masters. 

Right now, there are four players tied with 7.0/9:

1 GM Movsesian, Sergei 7.0 SVK M 2708
2 GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco 7.0 ESP M 2705
3 GM Adams, Michael 7.0 ENG M 2694
4 GM Gustafsson, Jan 7.0 GER M 2627

There are 14 players right behind, at 6.5, including several of the chess femmes:

5 GM Bacrot, Etienne 6.5 FRA M 2713
6 GM Kamsky, Gata 6.5 USA M 2693
7 GM Fressinet, Laurent 6.5 FRA M 2670
8 GM Fridman, Daniel 6.5 GER M 2654
9 GM Sandipan, Chanda 6.5 IND M 2622
10 GM Koneru, Humpy 6.5 IND F 2614
11 GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal 6.5 IND M 2584
12 IM Lenderman, Alex 6.5 USA M 2560
13 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 6.5 BUL F 2545
14 GM Cramling, Pia 6.5 SWE F 2528
15 GM Bindrich, Falko 6.5 GER M 2512
16 IM Javakhishvili, Lela 6.5 GEO F 2493
17 WGM Zhukova, Natalia 6.5 UKR F 2462
18 IM Boskovic, Drasko 6.5 SRB M 2454

AND, to jazz things up even further, there are 18 players with 6.0 points, only 1 point behind the leaders and 1/2 point behind the pack that are breathing down their necks!

19 GM Cheparinov, Ivan 6.0 BUL M 2660
20 GM Istratescu, Andrei 6.0 ROU M 2607
21 GM Felgaer, Ruben 6.0 ARG M 2591
22 GM Halkias, Stelios 6.0 GRE M 2566
23 GM Lemos, Damian 6.0 ARG M 2556
24 GM Malakhatko, Vadim 6.0 BEL M 2549
25 GM Naumann, Alexander 6.0 GER M 2525
26 GM Speelman, Jon S 6.0 ENG M 2525
27 GM Guliyev, Namig 6.0 AZE M 2516
28 IM Kapnisis, Spyridon 6.0 GRE M 2510
29 GM Hoffmann, Michael 6.0 GER M 2508
30 IM Cori, Jorge J 6.0 PER M 2483
31 IM Krush, Irina 6.0 USA F 2455
32 IM Vernay, Clovis 6.0 FRA M 2442
33 IM Sarkar, Justin 6.0 USA M 2378
34 IM Dworakowska, Joanna w 6.0 POL F 2374
35 FM Avalos Parra, Joao 6.0 CHI M 2245
36 Ivanov, Stojan Emilov 6.0 BUL M 2198

Here are the ladies' standings after R9:

Rank Name Flags Score Fed. M/F Rating TPR
10 GM Koneru, Humpy 6.5 IND F 2614 2687
13 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 6.5 BUL F 2545 2661
14 GM Cramling, Pia 6.5 SWE F 2528 2571
16 IM Javakhishvili, Lela 6.5 GEO F 2493 2569
17 WGM Zhukova, Natalia 6.5 UKR F 2462 2688
31 IM Krush, Irina 6.0 USA F 2455 2528
34 IM Dworakowska, Joanna w 6.0 POL F 2374 2244
40 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra 5.5 RUS F 2523 2493
41 GM Dzagnidze, Nana 5.5 GEO F 2506 2457
43 IM Cmilyte, Viktorija 5.5 LTU F 2489 2414
45 IM Harika, Dronavalli 5.5 IND F 2471 2455
49 WIM Cori T., Deysi J 5.5 PER F 2412 2362
51 WGM Karavade, Eesha 5.5 IND F 2405 2347
52 IM Houska, Jovanka w 5.5 ENG F 2401 2321
53 IM Tania, Sachdev 5.5 IND F 2398 2379
60 WGM Reizniece, Dana 5.5 LAT F 2341 2290
73 IM Sedina, Elena 5.0 ITA F 2335 2340
78 WIM Schoene, Maria 5.0 GER F 2251 2125
82 WFM Tjolsen, Katrine J 5.0 NOR F 2212 2322
97 GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 4.5 SCO F 2470 2236
98 IM Zatonskih, Anna 4.5 USA F 2466 2403
99 WGM Calzetta Ruiz, Monica 4.5 ESP F 2359 2172
100 IM Zozulia, Anna 4.5 BEL F 2321 2286
101 WFM Videnova, Iva 4.5 BUL F 2301 2224
113 WIM Martsynovskaya, Marina w 4.5 FRA F 2184 2114
132 WGM Nadig, Kruttika 4.0 IND F 2240 2186
166 Lochte, Szilvia 3.5 HUN F 2032 1915
193 Hansen, Erle Andrea Marki J 3.0 NOR F 1699 1776
195 Carlsen, Ingrid Oen J 3.0 NOR F 1508 1600
208 Chidi, Lovinia Sylvia 2.0 GER F 1832 1683
215 Jacobsen, Caroline Beer J 1.5 NOR F 0 1442
216 Reci, Nadja 1.5 SUI F 0 1550
221 Agdestein, Victoria J 0.0 NOR F 0 1166 (dropped out after R4)
222 Grodas, Margrethe Bjerkem J 0.0 NOR F 0 1140 (dropped out after R4)