Kramnik in the lead

The very strong hosted (category XX) Tal Memorial Tournament is now almost complete, they are finishing round 8 right now.

Unless something weird happens Kramnik will win the tournament, he’s 6/8 and playing very well. A nice end game from round 5, Kramnik vs. Shirov:

Position after black’s 46…Ne7-g6. White wins after
47.h5 … Ne7,
48.g6! … hxg6,
49.h6 … g5
50.h7 … Ng6
51. Kd3!

Game over! Black can’t stop the h-pawn from queening with the king’s aid, and it takes much too much time for the b-pawn to get anywhere. The knight has full control over both the g- and e-pawns. Great play by Kramnik.

Games ect. available at the official site here.