The Bilbao Grand Slam event has finished with a typical surging finish from Veselin Topalov. His final round win over Ivanchuk put him 1.5 points ahead of second (or 4 points using the 3/1/0 scoring system). Carlsen and Aronian finished in equal second on 13 (5/10) with Ivanchuk on 12 (but also 5/10).
The other performance of note (but for the wrong reasons) was Anand's last place finish on 4/10 (8). In terms of his upcoming match with Kramnik this is especially worrying, as his he failed to win a single game, scoring 8 draws and 2 losses. In a match with someone like Kramnik, who seems to be able to draw almost at will, Anand will need to win a couple of early games, so as to control the course of the match.
As late as yesterday I was tipping a win for Anand, and I'm still sticking by this, but if Kramnik does win, the psychological effect his Anand's result in this event may be a major cause.
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