[Ghostavo]

Is anyone else following the events? It has been pretty interesting, with lots of strong players leaving in the first rounds and a 15 year old tearing apart every oponent he faced (except the Bareev Evgeny, who was the star of the Russian team in the World Team Championship this year).

The oficial site: http://www.worldchesscup2005.com/main.asp?cat=0

Anyone has favorites for the winner?

My bet goes for Alexander Grischuk

[Rictor]

I have no idea whatsoever about the goings-on in the chess world, but it's interesting if a 15 year old is doing well against what I assume are the world masters. What's his name? Probably the result some secret KGB experiments 

[Ghostavo]

His name is Magnus Carlsen,  he's from Norway. Also mind you that while it may seem unbelievable that he is kicking the ass of some of the best in the world, according to his ELO ranking he is among the best in the world (2570 and #225 in the world and #2 of Norway) so...

There are only 4 remaining players who can win the Cup and they are (by ELO ranking):
Etienne Bacrot (2725 and #9 at the top100) from France
Levon Aronian (2724 and #10 at the top100) from Armenia
Alexander Grischuk (2720 and #11 at the top100) from Russia
Ruslan Ponomariov (2704 and #19 at the top100) from Ukraine

[Ghostavo]

Oh well... my bet was way off... but it was an interesting World Cup to watch.

#1 - Levon Aronian (this guy with proper training is probably going to become the best in the world.)
#2 - Ruslan Ponomariov
#3 - Etienne Bacrot
#4 - Alexander Grischuk