In-form Russian GM Ernesto Inarkiev scored a crucial victory over top seed GM David Navara in the eighth round of the European Individual Chess Championship 2016. Playing the black side of a Nimzo-Indian Defence, Inarkiev efficiently refuted his opponent’s over-ambitious play on the King-side and went on to register a convincing 37-move victory. Courtesy of this result, Inarkiev is currently in sole lead with an impressive 7/8, half a point ahead of his nearest rivals.
Meanwhile, GMs Wojtaszek, Goganov and Kovalenko scored important wins over GMs Ter-Sahakyan, Bartel and Ivan Saric respectively to race their way to 6.5/8. This was Ivan Saric’s second consecutive defeat, after having grabbed the sole lead earlier with 5.5/6.
In the 9th round, tournament leader Inarkiev will be up against Kovalenko, who has notched up a creditable 4.5 points from his last 5 games to cover up for a slightly slow start.