Is anybody following the championship?

I am!

As usual the top GM's are not playing e.g Nigle Short, Michael Adams, Jon Speelman etc (David Howell is playing). I asked Nigel Short why he does not play - it is to do with poor monetary reward and paying for somewhere to reside during the tournament.

The good part about top chess professionals being able to command a living wage (or better) these days is just that: it encourages the very talented to give it a go. The bad part is that events such as this can no longer capture many of the best and brightest precisely because of money issues. You'll have to decide if this is better or worse than before Fischer and Kasparov broke the mythical chains of impoverishment off the chess giants.

No, unless you are david howell.