<The last 2 games have been narrow escapes for Anand. I have had some great discussions with Yasser about them. Despite these close calls, Yasser still believes that game 10 today will be the final game of the match. "Kramnik just isn't seeing anything." This is bad news for the organizers, who have sold out the hall for games 11 and 12.

In game 8 Vladimir had a winning liquidation sequence but mishandled it. Apparently instead of 23. Rd1 he should have first played Kg2 to cover his Rook on f2. Then the liquidation leads to a winning Knight ending because the Black Knight is stuck on d8 and the h pawn becomes the White King's lunch. Yasser played several lines with Rybka and won each time. Strategically this plan was not so hard to see - but Yasser can make it sound so easy!

Yesterday in game 9 Kramnik was all over Anand. He spoke in the press conference afterward, saying that he was tired of playing into Anand's preparation "being one and a half hours behind on the clock in a worse position. Today I discovered that if I get a promising position I can play well."

Anand's drawing chances came after the Q's were traded on c7. Luckily for Anand, Vlad is still smarting after missing that mate in one in his match with Fritz. He traded Queens after noticing at the last moment that his main move under consideration, 35...f5, allowed mate on h7. He was also a bit nervous about the clock, although 35. Qc7 still left him with nearly 6 minutes to reach move 40. Yasser claims that 35...Rg8 is winning.

Anand admitted that he did not play so well, and at several moments in the game he thought he was lost. Both guys went through a lot of water - I brought 6 bottles to Anand which is double his normal intake. Kramnik won the bathroom race 14-4.

We had a sell out crowd for the game, which was a real pain. They were noisy. Parents brought their kids, who simply could not sit still. Plenty of coughing, footsteps, whispers, etc. After 40 moves were reached there followed a boisterous exodus of about one third of the audience. Cell phones went off on move 20 and after move 40. On the second occasion the perpetrator was escorted out.