2 out of the 3 mentioned don't find it worth their while to participate in khanty. So, lets blame the "2 old boys" for being here fighting it out. Disparaging remarks directed at legitimate contenders is getting a bit too old.
Not sure if these guys themselves feel a sense of "entitlement" or being wronged by the format - but there is no dearth of followers who feel so!

The point is - there is no system that is _guaranteed_ to bring the #1 and #2 to the championship table. So, any system can be picked on based on individual preferences.

No question about tournament performances of Carlsen and Aronian - Anand himself openly acknowledged it recently. But what systems they will play when faced with a championship struggle is yet to be seen. We all know the "boring" systems Kramnik used to bring the big guy down.

Besides, being the top performer at a given point in time doesn't automatically entitle someone to a championship title - rewind 98 - Anand. He still had to go through whatever was thrown at him and show he can handle it all.

First, why do you overlook the fact that Carlson had his chance to play, to prove himself at Chanty? And, Nakamura wasn't invited nor had he earned his place there. As regards Aronian, he played Mexico City and Chanty! His inspiring and succsesful tournament play did not cut the mustard.

So, we have one drop

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http://www.chessvibes.com/terms

Ratings are spot measurements: two years ago Gelfand was still a top10 player - who then fell a bit behind and out of the top20 only very recently after a bad result in Wijk aan Zee this year.

And they reflect results against ALL of your opponents. Like it or not, for the WCh cycle results in dedicated events against your direct competitors decide. And here Gelfand was successful. It's legitimate to complain about the system, but it wasn't a coin toss. Or, in Gelfand's case, there were seven coin tosses - seven consecutive match wins against opponents rated above 2700. This can't be just luck.

You boys shd ask Thomas to translate this excerpt from Die Zeit, a major newspaper covering this event in Germany. You'll quickly see how stupid you look/sound to the world at large.

"Und was machen viele Schachfans? Sie mäkeln herum.
Da treffen nicht die beiden nach Rangliste stärksten Spieler aufeinander, sagen sie. Der Weltmeister Anand habe seit Längerem kein Turnier mehr gewonnen, sein Herausforderer Gelfand gehe auch schon auf die fünfzig zu. "Beide Finalisten haben zuletzt kaum begeisterndes Schach geboten", konstatierte am Donnerstag die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Stimmt alles – und doch verfehlt es die Wirklichkeit."

http://mobil.zeit.de/sport/2012-05/schach-wm-anand-gelfand