Akopian, Matlakov, and Malakhov lead EICC after round 8

Round 8 of the European Individual Chess Championshipsaw a change of leaders. The R7 sole leader Sergei Azarov lost his game to Vladimir Malakhov to hand him a joint first place with Maxim Matlakov and Vladimir Akopian. They are with 6,5/8 three rounds before the end of the championship.

Vladimir Akopian

The leaders are closely followed by a group of 17 players with 6,0/8, among them are GM Gawain Jones, GM Yuriy Kuzubov, GM Nikita Vitiugov, GM Etinne Bacrot, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Ernesto Inarkiev, GM Mikhail Kobalia, GM Francisco Vallejo, GM Dmitry Andreikin, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Baadur Jobava, GM Sergei Azarov, GM Anton Korobov, GM Andrei Volokitin, GM Igor Khankin, and GM Andrei Istratescu.

Within 1 point of the leaders are 31 players, among them the 2700 club members GM Caruana, GM Naiditsch, GM Jakovenko, GM Laznicka, FM Movsesian, etc.

Scroll down for the full standings and pairings of round 9.

Live games with analysis /Pairings round 8 / Results and standings round 8 / Pairings round 9

European Individual Chess 2012 standings

1	GM	Malakhov Vladimir	RUS	2705	6.5
2	GM	Matlakov Maxim	RUS	2632	6.5
3	GM	Akopian Vladimir	ARM	2684	6.5
4	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2635	6
5	GM	Kuzubov Yuriy	UKR	2615	6
6	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	RUS	2709	6
7	GM	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	2706	6
8	GM	Fressinet Laurent	FRA	2693	6
9	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2695	6
10	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	RUS	2689	6

Source:Chessdom.com