Unbelieveable things happening, who would say that MC will waste +3 after excellent first 2 days. Anyway, Bravo Sergey ! You hold the ´˙Little Crown´ now, and deservedly so =)

PS for me, the real heroes of the event are Topa (rapid was never his Forte, and in the end he was almost 2nd! , letting Magnus off the hook - very pleasant surprise) and Gandalf - placing this high in rapid event, in his age - Korchnoi would be proud =)

Like the way Karjakin carjacked the trophy. One and a half points ahead of......his peers. Carlsen fumbles the ball near the goal line. Ha. Ha. Ha. Gelfand keeps the ship afloat! And, Topalov is back on the charts.

Great job by Karjakin! Congrats also to Carlsen, who almost got it. Hopefully with the advent of rapid and blitz ratings we will see more top events like this. Looking forward to the blitz!

How did Topalov miss it against Carlsen after g x h5? It would have been a nice completion to the knight sac.

Will these players enter the rapid ratinglist with a number equal to their tpr?

Happiest today was probably Mamedyarov, he was shining like the sun after beating Kurnosov who he has accused of cheating several times in dimwitted press releases.

Magnus fell apart. It seems his biggest weakness is that he is getting too comfortable too quickly. Appears that he is struggeling to keep the tension and with it his motivation/concentration when he has a "commanding lead".

Good for Karjakin!
I'd like to see him play against his higher rated peers in classical as well. He and many others don't get that chance very often.
As it is he is forced to play in team events and knock outs that only hurt his progress and rating.
Now he is a world champion and maybe he will get a few more invites and attention.

Just to compare some classical pairings since 2010:
Karjakin Anand 2 games
Anand-Kramnik 7
Anand-Carlsen 11
Anand-Aronian 5

Carlsen-Aronian 7
Kramnik-Aronian 8 (rated)
Karjakin-Aronian 4

off topic>
all of those who believe that chess is a sport should write a letter to the olympiad organizers asking why there is not a single shot of chess in their "survival" video clip ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66molzUEkWI&feature=player_embedded
why would that be>

According to the tournament rules, players must talk to the arbiter in order to request a draw, can't talk to the opponent

People seem to forget the fact that Carlsen was facing Ivanchuk,Grischuk,Topalov and Radjabov all on the same day. Anyone who thought it would be a cake-walk despite his 1.5 lead is delusional.

Congrats Karjakin.
Finally starting to fulfill your potential, it appears. I was worried that you were going to be another brilliant, "was promising" prodigy. The greatest prodigy perhaps, becoming a grandmaster at 12?!
STARTING WITH YOUR HAPPY MARRIAGE, YOU SEEM TO BE MAKING ALL THE RIGHT MOVES.

Carlsen scored about 2855 elo, not bad I think. Karjakin did great.

A prize fund of 200,000 dollars!
1st Place 40,000
2nd Place 33,000
3rd Place 27,500
4th Place 22,500
5th Place 18,000
6th Place 14,000
7th Place 12,000
8th Place 10,000
9th Place 7,000
10th Place 4,000
11th-16th place (2,000
$ each) 12,000

I can see why original qualifiers Ponomariov and So might be pissed off. Those guys could use the money.

Overall most people seem never to play tournament chess, judging by the tone of comments. Carlsen to lose on purpose-- my god. Great tournament! By the way, I recommend to watch how Grischuk broke down Carlsens Berlin.

Congratulations to Karjakin.

Interesting to see Topalov do so well. In the clip he's seen with a smile on his face after a couple of games, including the loss against Tkachiev. Perhaps his fine result is due to him enjoying himself.

Excellent video and games given to us. Thanks.

Grischuk Topalov was quite the miniature. Qd2 seemed a bit odd given that the King is so exposed.

I do not understand why many players don't look at their opponents while conceding defeat and resigning. They look elsewhere and extend a half hearted handshake. It seems so unsporting and sometimes rude. Tomorrow will be another battle and the opponents are not patzers to discredit the loss. From the videos, very few players seem to be as dignified in defeat as they are in victory.

Sauron missed the event ...

Anybody disrespecting their opponent should be disqualified immediately. Churlishness has no place in chess.

I get by with a little help from my friends. Mm, I get
high with a little help from my friends. Mm, I'm gonna
try with a little help from my friends.