I think it was more that Anand never looked like winning the match, there was barely a single game where he looked like winning. So yeah he totally deserves to be there but everyone is expecting a one sided match.

Anand qualifies for what will surely be a boring one-sided beatdown of a match. Chess as a spectator event relies on tension and stakes, Anand brings neither and hasn't for years.

Levon Aronian leaves tournament in dishonor. (well, as much dishonor as one can suffer pushing little wooden pieces around a board, but still...dishonor)

Still an Aronian fanboy but yeah this was kinda sucky.

Aronian still gets beat down by Magnus, though, right? Even if his games are interesting.

Pairing: record in classical games since 2012 [length of decisive games, with Carlsen's wins listed first].

Carlsen–Aronian: +3 -0 =9 [59, 68, 70].

Carlsen–Anand: +5 -0 =12 [30, 29, 28, 67, 58].

Carlsen–Anand (excluding 2013 WC match): +2 -0 =5 [30, 29].

Carlsen–Kramnik: +1 -0 =4 [72].

Carlsen–Karjakin: +2 -1 =3 [92, 46, 60].

Carlsen–Svidler: +1 -1 =1 [36, 48].

I chose 2012 as a cutoff because it was the year Carlsen evolved into SuperDuper Carlsen, stratifying himself from the likes of run-of-the-mill 2800+ GMs such as Aronian. In conclusion, Svidler GOAT.

Anand, Aronian not great match-ups against Carlsen. Setting that said, this was a disaster for Aronian.

But frankly, as good a tournament this was for Anand -- his TPR here still loses the match to Carlsen by about the same margin as last time.

What other stereotypes did this tournament affirm? Preparing for WCC matches is hard and afterwards you play better. Kramnik's main weakness is just blundering games for nothing. Aronian can't handle the pressure. And no one knows why Topalov's rating is still so high.

Forgive me for speaking out of frustration, but if Aronian had been American...or Japanese, this never would've happened. I mean, I guess if he was from those countries he might never have played chess to begin with, but regardless, the extreme emphasis on ambition and fighting spirit, respectively, would've meant he would've gone down swinging and not done stuff like drawn the key game with Anand after 19-moves.

Look at Nakamura. He has no chance whatsoever of beating Magnus, but he's still obsessed with trying. Aronian has more talent than Nakamura, but this is where you can see the difference in their psychological make-up. I'm sure Nakamura is a bit of a nut, and Aronian is probably a perfectly-balanced person from a supportive culture, but here at least, you can see where nuttiness has its benefits compared to the opposite.

(end frustrated rant)

Wat

So he is +14 -2 =34 against that group?

I gave Aronian 2820, Anand 2785, Kramnik 2795, Karjakin 2770 and Svidler 2760 and came up with an average rating of 2786 for them.

I wonder what performance rating that is. +14-2=34 against a 2786 group.

(scary thing is if you throw in his thrashings of Nakamura it would only go up)

I think it's about what you'd expect, if I remember correctly--someone else did that calculation in another thread if you can find it.

I did not know that! Via twic.

wow sick

WCGRider, I enjoyed your podcast with ChicagoJoey!

Wanted to see Aronian win the tournament as he has the best chance to beat Carlsen but can never count out Anand maybe he makes one last big push.

You didn't follow Anand-Kramnik or Anand-Topalov very closely, did you?

It's really Carlsen's fault, why does he have to be so awesome?

"Hasn't for years" doesn't mean "hasn't ever."

I think the one encouraging thing about this tournament is that Vishy actually had some quite productive ideas. Yes, he got demolished in the WC match vs Carlsen but he had had some very barren months leading up to it. Which got alot of people wondering whether or not he had anything creative left to offer at this level.

So maybe the same thing will happen in WC mark II where Vishy does not get to play his ideas but at least we know there is something there to offer if he gets his own way out of the openings.

I suppose the most disappointing moment for me was Vishy declining to continue that crazy game with Andreikin with a rook sacrifice - although completely understandable he didnt.

Finally - I thought Peter Svidler justified his invitation - he had some very good play in this tournament. Plus, I love his press conferences - he is a funny guy!

Well, he indeed made too many reckless attacking pawn moves vs Andreikin, but I think the game was decided rather by Dmitry's superior castling skills that Veselin didn't expect

Andreikin vs Topalov (MatoJelic comments)

Sorry for returning to round 7, I've stumbled upon a proper breakdown of that (standard?) beauty only now and thought it needs more love!

Cool game, although Mato's accent made me think I was listening to Count Chocula.

...and everyone was right about an Anand-Carlsen rematch. FIDE didn't receive any bids to host.

http://www.fide.com/component/conten...atch-2014.html

Match cancelled, Carlsen declared champion for life.

So what happens now? Do they hold it in Kasparov's basement?

What are the minimum requirements of a bid? I'll run it if a $13 prize fund is deemed sufficient. FIDE will totally be on board with that, right?