Overview

• Fabiano Caruana leads the open section with 12.5 points after Round 8, followed by Magnus Carlsen on 12 points and Nakamura and Gukesh on 11.5.
• Hikaru Nakamura snapped Gukesh’s late classical winning run with a commanding Round 8 victory, avenging his earlier loss to the 19-year-old prodigy.
• D Gukesh’s upset over Magnus Carlsen in Round 6 marked a major surprise, prompting Carlsen’s table-slam reaction and a suggestion he may scale back his classical chess schedule.
• Arjun Erigaisi bounced back by outmaneuvering Caruana in Round 8, moving to 10.5 points and preserving his bid for the title.
• Viswanathan Anand said Carlsen’s outburst reflected a sense of challenged authority and signaled that FIDE plans to review sportsmanship guidelines.