The Chess Mind

We have a champion!

At one point, about 2.5-3 hours into the round, it looked like Topalov might be in trouble: Anand offered a sac that looked promising at first glance, while Topalov's position looked critical against Kasimjanov. As it turned out, Anand's sac was only good for a draw, while a combination of Kasimjanov's inaccuracy combined with a brilliant counterattacking idea by Topalov turned the tables, leaving the defending, outgoing champion needing to hold the game. He did, but that game, together with Anand's draw, clinched the title for Topalov. (Svidler also drew, but once Topalov drew Svidler's results were irrelevant to the first-place battle - in case of a tie, Topalov wins without a playoff, based on their head-to-head score.)

The other two games were drawn quickly: Polgar-Svidler went straight to an endgame, and although Polgar had a nominal edge, the draw was rapidly agreed. Adams-Leko was even less inspiring, but understandably so, as the players' ambitions in this event were dampened long ago.

So here are our quasi-final standings (they're not the final standings because there's one round to go, but as the event has been decided and four quick handshakes tomorrow are likely, it's as good as done):

Topalov 9.5 (out of 13)
Anand, Svidler 8
Morozevich 6.5
Kasimjanov, Leko 5.5
Adams 5
Polgar 4

Pairings for Round 14

Topalov-Polgar
Svidler-Anand
Morozevich-Adams
Leko-Kasimjanov

Predictions:

Draw, draw, draw and draw. All in less than three hours.

Non-analytical update: Svidler wins second on tiebreak if he draws tomorrow vs. Anand. (Hat tip: Brian Karen)

UPDATE: ANALYSIS IS POSTED! Click here.