Standings after round 6
1-3. Leko, Peter g HUN 2741, Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2703, Aronian, Levon g ARM 2741 4.0
4-6. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2750, Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2728, Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 3.0
7-8. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2720, Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2710 2.5
9-10. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2698, Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2747 2.0
Round 7 matchups:
Carlsen – Leko
Ponomariov – Aronian
Grischuk – Shirov
Gelfand – Svidler
Morozevich – Mamedyarov
Leko, Ponomariov and Aronian seem to pull away from the rest. Who do you think is the favorite to win now?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Aronian will win it.
I think Leko will win it, he must be feeling hurt by Topalov’s “Leko is nobody now” comment and has some point to prove.
You are asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is who has played the better (best) chess.
It is a sign of greatness when you not only defeat your opponent you win in style. Capturing the tournament’s chess brilliancy prize, has been Cassandra’s (prophecy) gift that foretold of greatness.
I can think of many great players of the past – Capablanca allowed to play in a tournament at San Sebastián, Spain in 1911. It was one of the strongest tournaments of the time. Capablanca won his first round game against Bernstein, capturing the tournament’s brilliancy prize, Bernstein quickly acknowledged Capablanca’s talent and said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Capablanca won the tournament.
All threre guys just played great in this tournament. But in my oppinion Leko is going to win it, he is just well prepared and concentrated. Last few games he realy played on high level.
That trap for the queen against Aronian was awesome. Also his wins against Gelfand and Morozevich were not bad.
Ponomariov, period.
It is somewhat funny that such mediocre players like Aronian or Leko could win this tournament.
From this trio – Pomomariov, Leko, Aronian -Pomomariov, obviously, is the best.