The 9th round of Pearl Spring Chess Tournament Nanjing, China finished in Pukou District, Nanjing. Chinese player Bu Xiangzhi still ranked second, along with Armenian grandmaster Aronian. Bulgarian player Topalov has achieved two successive victories and will surly win the champion of the tournament.

　　Both Bu Xiangzhi and Aronian ranked second so they were very careful with the game on that day. Before the 20th move, they had exchanged many pieces. Bu Xiangzhi declared check for three times and they ended in draw till the 29th move. This game took them only half an hour and it is the shortest game of this tournament.

　　The draw between Bu Xiangzhi and Aronian facilitated Topalov’s success of becoming the champion in advance. He kept on played well and defeated Russian player Svidler with only 36 moves. This is the second time that Topalov won successive victories. He scored 1.5 points higher than Bu Xiangzhi and Aronian with 4 victories and 5 draws. So he can still guarantee his throne even if he failed the last round.

    Another game between Ukrainian player Ivanchuk and Slovakia player Movsesian ended in draw after 33 moves. Ivanchuk who ranked third in the world got 6 draws and 3 losses so he scored last.

    At the end of this round, Topalov won the first place in advance with 6.5 points. Bu Xiangzhi and Aronian came after him with 5 points. Svidler scored 4 points. Movsesian scored 3.5 points and Ivanchuk scored 3 points.

    The last round will take place on 21st. Bu Xiangzhi will play against Ivanchuk; Topalov play against Movsesian; Aronian will play with Svidler.

Source: xinhua net