The 2 C’s, Caruana and Carlsen, defeated the 2 A’s, Aronian and Anand respectively, in crucial round 9. They are tied with each other going into the final round tomorrow. These two are already assured 1st and 2nd place as they lead the field by a whopping 6 points!
Round 9 results
Carlsen, Magnus – Anand, Viswanathan 1-0
Caruana, Fabiano – Aronian, Levon 1-0
Karjakin, Sergey – Vallejo Pons, Francisco 1-0
Standings after 9 rounds
| 1-2. | Caruana, Fabiano | g | ITA | 2773 | * | * | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | . | 16 | |
| 1-2. | Carlsen, Magnus | g | NOR | 2843 | 0 | 1 | * | * | ½ | . | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| 3. | Aronian, Levon | g | ARM | 2816 | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | * | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 10 | |
| 4. | Karjakin, Sergey | g | RUS | 2778 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | * | ½ | . | ½ | 1 | 9 | |
| 5. | Anand, Viswanathan | g | IND | 2780 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | * | * | ½ | ½ | 8 | |
| 6. | Vallejo Pons, Francisco | g | ESP | 2697 | 0 | . | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | * | 5 |
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Fabiano rocks!
Carlsen scores a thorough beating of Anand. I think it’s pretty clear now who’s stronger. Anand’s title has become a sham. It’s hard to call somebody ‘world champion’ when he’s clearly not among the best anymore. FIDE should hasten the WC cycle and revise the process. It should be a simple round-robin tournament among the 10 highest rated players. (That should preclude any lucky entry by a lowly player). The top 3 then go thru a finals phase where 2nd and 3rd placers knock each other off to face the 1st placer for a final x-game match.