Interesting battle for the first places at Gibtelecom 2008

IM Zong Yuan Zhao wins 3rd GM norm

IM Zong Yuan Zhao will become Australia's next grandmaster after winning his penultimate game in Gibraltar against Frenchman Gildas Goldzstein, reports Amiel from The Closet Grandmaster. The win gives Zong Zhao the third GM norm and the GM title. Zhao won his previous norm at the Festival Internacional da Ajedrez GEMA. The Sydney Morning Herald was quick to celebrate the news.

Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU) and Robert Bellin (ENG) have also achieved GM norms. Joachim Thomassen (NOR), Max Devereaux (ENG), Shen Yang (CHN), Zhao Xue (CHN) and Ismael Karim (MAR) take IM norms home.

Going into the last round

Gibtelecom 2008 has been a fantastic tournament of spectacular rises and quick setbacks. It started with GM Antoaneta Stefanova taking down 4 in a row, among them Petrosian and Gurevich. However, a series of draws and a "half point bye" in round 8 sent her back in the standings.

At her place rose the Mtel Masters 2008 participant Xiangzhi Bu. Round 8 result for Bu was spectacular, 7 victories and 1 draw for a total TPR of 3022! However, his reign did not continue afterwards, as he was taken down by the always orbiting the first places GM Zahar Efimenko. With this victory GM Efimenko has equalized Bu on top of the standings, both having 7,5/9. They are followed by Victor Bologan, GN Gopal, Hikaru Nakamura, Ni Hua, all with 7,0/9 and direct matches will decide the winner of this year's event.

Last round top pairings:
GM Bu Xiangzhi (CHN 2691) - GM Ni Hua (CHN 2680)
GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA 2670) - GM Zahar Efimenko (UKR 2638)
GM G.N. Gopal (IND 2528) - GM Viktor Bologan (MDA 2663)
GM Leonid Kritz (GER 2592) - GM Wang Yue (CHN 2698)

Action starts at 11:00 CET, follow it live on the official site.

With his victory against Victor Bologan, Bu Xiangzhi achieved a TPR of 3022
photo by IM Manuel Weeks