Alexi Shirov is off to a great start at Corus with 4/4, mostly against the the lower-rated players in the tournament, but also includes a win off 2739-Peter Leko. Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, and Hikaru Nakamaura are in the chase pack with 3.0/4. Vladimir Kramnik, Visi Anand, and last year's winner Sergey Karjakin have an uninspiring 2.0/4.
Anand may be saving all his theoretical novelties for his upcoming match with Topalov, so his lackluster performance is not too surprising, but I was hoping that Kramnik would be joining Topalov and Carlsen above 2800 after this tournament, after coming off a fine performance at the Tal Memorial.
The B group is being led by Hua and Giri with 3.0/4. The lone american, Vladimir Akopian, is way back in 13th place with 1.0/4.
The C group ("dubbed the kindergarten group") is being led by Li Chao and Ray Robson, two of the top three seeds, with 3.5/4.
The winner of group C will be invited to the B group the following year, likewise the winner of group B is invited to the A group. Robson will be following Carlsen's footsteps if he manages to win group C.
Carlsen's Progress.
2004: Group C: 10.5/13 1st
2005: Group B: 7.0/13 7th
2006: Group B: 9.0/13 1st-2nd
2007: Group A: 4.5/13 13th-14th
2008: Group A: 8.0/13 1st-2nd
2009: Group A: 7.0/13 5th-6th
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