looking at the pairings of last rounds aronian seems to getting the first place! BTW it is always great to see chuck around!

Some people started asking if MC-Karjakine game is reated or not.

very interesting turn of events today. however, i would not at all be surprised to see Carlsen still come out on top. dont forget he's been getting very good results vs Nakamura and Topalov lately, and Kamsky and Van Wely should be beatable as well. if Aronian keeps up his excellent form, no doubt he will win. I'm curious whether he can win black vs. Giri, and black vs Gelfand. I dont see him beating Radjabov with white, though I reckon he should be able to beat Navara.
My predictions are that Aronian will beat Navara, and draw vs Radjabov, Giri and Gelfand, thus adding +2.5 points, scoring him a 9/13.
I predict Carlsen to win vs Van Wely, Topalov and Kamsky, and draw vs Nakamura, thus giving him +3.5, totalling also a 9/13 score.

Let's see how this turns out.

Oh, by the way, amazing tournament. Aronian is playing like a champ. I (and no doubt most of you out there) look forward to an Aronian - Carlsen match in the (hopefully near) future.

More interesting would be to try and predict Karjakins' final score.
what a roller coaster tournament for him.

Other than the obvious two who are world champion caliber, Karjakin and Radjabov are the next super strong young guys of world champion material. So, after Anand, Aronian and Magnus in team A, and these two in team B with the potential to succeed. What do you all think? Agree/Disagree?

Amazing how Karjakin lays psychological pressure on his opponents and induces blunders by precise play.
And not even the face-pulling, chair wiggling -legs in the air stuff could get Carlsen out of it today. What a marvellous technique!!
I would love to see a match between Karjakin and Aronian!

Aronian is the star player at the moment, he has consistency and that is key(something Carlsen is lacking at the moment, and has for a while actually). Still got potential for a nail biting finale!

Karjakin played quite precisely today, as he himself expressed in the video interview. But apart from that, he didn't have to do much: his win was due to a double blunder (f4/Ne4) in a not promising opening position from Carlsen, when Carslen tried to get something, from nothing achieved in the opening once more.

This seems to be Carlsens's main problem to me. He has an excellent positional understanding, does not have to avoid any tactical complications and is a premium endgame player as well, and is aware of all that very well. So his biggest temptation probably is to get around some of the silly amount of opening preparation required in our computer times by any top player.

That was the lesson Garry tried to teach him (obviously stressing Magnus' patience too much): to prepare really well, not to be a mister-know-it-all, but to reach positions you want to play and which fit your playing style while creating some unbalance or tension. At the moment many of Magnus' openings look like halfhearted efforts without any welcome results, and he regularly has to start games from not very promising middlegame positions missing the tension he needs.

In some games Carlsen succeeds in doing so, but IMHO far too rare for a player of his level! I have the impression Kortchnoi is critical about that as well. Perhaps Carlsen should reevaluate opening study as something possibly really creative and promising, to develop his whole proper style, and not just as the stupid learning necessity, which is the other side of nowadays endless opening preparation.

I am very aware of what Carlsen said (in contrast to what Wiki may say). It confirms exactly that he doesn't take this task serious enough, and that is no strength, but quite an obvious weakness in many of his recent games, certainly no assupmtion based on one game at all (@anonymous)!

Bertje, behaving like an arrogant brat does not add anything.

Dude, Topalov is very close to be out of the Top 10 on the live ratings!

Chess fans have to be the most unreasonable and illogical of them all. When a player wins a game one day, he is the greatest and they are all "fan boys"; suddenly, the same human being (!) loses and all of a sudden he is lazy and inconsistent. Oh please, even Kasparov lost games, I am sure he will still win this tournament- just remember, "Zacalov predicted it!"

@jimknopf

Calling someone arrogant brad is just insulting. If thats strenghten your point i dont think you will ever be able to make it.

Better arrogant than ignorant so letsrest our case here ok?

Oh by the way: GM Yermolinsky said today: "Lets not criticise his openings. The mistakes cam later"

so instead of someone who repeats and misinterprets interviews I prefer listening to the GM.

https://webcast.chessclub.com/icc/i/Tata12/Round9/GOTD.html

at 16:27

I don't base evaluations on single games. Wasn't that more than obvious from my words. Being unreasonable begins with confusing what someone says with your own emotions, instead of listening and answering. Nobody has to become emotionally unbalanced over some views on chess players.

And Topalov is no counter argument at all from my view: he just is the other extreme (living too much from preparation), and beyond his best playing strength. Nothing extraordinary about that.

Further arguments?
Perhaps a look at some games?

By the way, I didn't call you an arrogant brat, Bertje. I don't know you.
I just said that a certain kind of behavior doesn't help at all. And yes, I think you showed that kind of behvior above.

Check your own chessbase databases to verify that that problems arose directly from a not too promising opening position, trying to get something going with Ne5. Even if I am not Mr. Yermolinsky, I guess it is not forbidden to have your own view at things.

I listen to everyone making sense, but I don't stop thinking myself for that reason.

AND HERE WE GO AGAIN. Someone cant make his point and reacts by saying. " I have the right to have my opinion"

SO??? And im not emotional at all. Even if thats your interpretation. Thats the whole point here after all. Your interpretations are wrong .......

At least I show an opinion of a GM for proving you wrong. If thats still not good enough, nothing will make you put your pride aside and admit at least some of my point

On the other hand... I think this was an openingmistake after all. ...

We will see when it comes to Candidate plays there Kramnik is wery strong and i think bouth Kramnik and Anand can beat Carlsen and Aronian in matchplay.And Ivanchuck is soo strong.But i agree acordingt to tournamentplay Aronian and Carlsen are superior and often win tournaments

Does anyone know why Van Wely even bothered to show up for this tournament? Do they provide free dinner, beverages and beers to the participants? Is that the reason? Other than that, I don't see any motivation for him to participate in this tournament this year.

Aronian won all his white games

A great day for MC haters....have your fun you dont get a lot of these moments anyway

Why aren't the most important games (e.g. Carlsen-Karjakin) provided to go through by clicking the forward button under the board? I only see the unimportant and uninteresting (draws) games usually presented.

Hurray, the wooden boards are back!

Great comment from Sokolov:“It is a pity,” Sokolov added, that Aronian continues to “complain about his bad play” after every round. “It is not true to begin with and, moreover, it’s not good for himself, for the tournament and for his opponents.”

Isn't Maxim Turov the lost brother of Ted Hankey? http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/photos/TedHankey2.jpg