Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Nanjing - Pearl Spring round 1


This is the first tournament ever with three 2800's participating!  Wang Yue (China's #1) and Gashimov (a young player formerly in the top ten) are logical picks, but I'm surprised that Bacrot was invited instead of someone like Vachier-Lagrave.

Sidebar: Topalov has fallen well below 2800 on the unofficial but widely quoted live rating list, but Levon Aronian now joins Anand and Carlsen now above 2800, so there are still three 2800s in the world.  Signs of the time: none of the four are Russian, and only one of the four current / recent 2800s (Aronian) was born in the former Soviet Union.  But Kramnik is over 2790 with a bullet....

Back to Nanjing: the games begin at something like 2:30 a.m. Chicago time, so check them with your morning coffeeCarlsen wins in round one and will probably reclaim the live #1 spot later today....

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