defeated both Eduardo Iturrizaga and Dusko Pavasovic 2-0, Rublevsky 2.5-1.5 before losing to Gata Kamsky by the same score. He finished ninth at the Russian Superfinal in December after losing to Evgeny Tomashevsky and Morozevich, on 5/11. In 2008 Svidler lost to Grischuk in the quarter finals of the ACP World Rapid Cup. He won at Bunratty in February with 5.5/6, half a point ahead of Alexander Baburin. Svidler finished seventh in the inaugural FIDE Grand Prix event in Baku (invited as Presidential nominee) between April–May with 6.5/13 and ninth on tiebreak with 5/11 at Aerosvit. He rebounded after a poor start in the second Grand Prix event held in Sochi in August, winning his last three games, to finish fifth on tiebreak with 7/13. He came fourth on tiebreak at the Tal Memorial Blitz, before playing in the China-Russia Summit and Russian Superfinal. He won his fifth Russian Championship after a play-off with Jakovenko and Evgeny Alekseev, having scored 7/9 in the main event. He tied with Grischuk for third at the World Blitz Championship in November, played in the Dresden Chess Olympiad and ended the year with fourth place, scoring 4.5/10, at Nanjing's Pearl Spring event. Entering 2009, Svidler defeated Carlsen in the Aker Chess Challenge final before winning the Gibraltar Masters after a play-off match against Milov, having tied on 8/10. His participation in Gibraltar instead of Tata Steel was secured after organisers offered him a session at the local cricket nets. He successfully defended his Bunratty title scoring 5.5/6, but fell well out of contention at the Aeroflot Blitz, placing 47th. He finished tenth on tiebreak in the Nalchik Grand Prix scoring 6/13. Svidler defeated Karpov, Movsesian and Grischuk on the way to the ACP Rapid Cup final in May, losing to Gelfand 3-1, though he had decisive chances in two games. In July he came third in Donostia Chess Festival with 5.5/9, behind Hikaru Nakamura and Ponomariov. Svidler scored 6/10 for the "Experience" team as they defeated the "Rising Stars" in a Scheveningen match held in Amsterdam in August. Svidler scored 5/7 to win team silver at the European Team Championships in Novi Sad in October, stumbled to 3.5/9 and eighth place at the Tal Memorial, though he finished sixth at the World Blitz Championship in November. Soon after, he knocked Jean Hebert, Tomi Nyback, Arkadij Naiditsch and Shirov before being eliminated by Vladimir Malakhov