I dont agree. There are many other good possibilities for black after e4. Caro-Kann, French, Pirc... And after e4 e5 white can aslo choose other openings then Ruy. Remember eg Kasparovs Evans gambit? Or Scotch? Even top rated grandmasters can play it.

I think the reason that very strong GMs choose 1.d4 so much is that it leads more to positions that afford opportunities in more continuations and without immediately opening up the game as much as 1.e4 does. 

The options after 1.e4 are relatively few at the GM level -- it's either the Sicilian (1.e4 c5) in which you better know the first 20 moves in depth or you're dead), or Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) which is also quite well explored up to at least move 15.  Choosing one of these two makes it much harder to offer a surprise for either side, and they really count on surprises in order to gain advantage and win games.  In contrast, after 1.d4 there's the Gruenfeld, the Slav Defense, the Kings Indian, the Queens Indian, the Nimco-Indian, the Queen's Gambit, and the Benko Gambit -- all of which have plenty of ground left to explore for either side, so it's easier to explore for mines and catch someone by surprise.

Can someone explain why 1. d4 is so much more popular among the super-GMs?

ggs

just great, ANAND..

Exciting stuff.

Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Carlsen and Aronian are the best players now. I cant say who is better, but others are significantly worse.

16...dxc3 17.e6!! fxe6 18.Bh5#

16...dxc3 17.e6!! Nb6 18.Bh5 (mate threat)

"In Anand vs. Leko, I don't understand Anands move 16. e5?? Why didn't Leko capture the knight with the pawn? What am I missing? Hope someone can shed some light for me, thanks."

In my opinion,  16. ..dxc3 is met with 17.e6 followed by 18. exf2+ and pressure from the white light squared bishop along the h5-e8 diagonal and the white queen exerting pressure from f3, leaving black's king in a precarious position.

In Anand vs. Leko, I don't understand Anands move 16. e5?? Why didn't Leko capture the knight with the pawn? What am I missing? Hope someone can shed some light for me, thanks.

That was good to see Anand giving tension to Kramnik. Come on Vishy.....

I'm hoping that Carlsen will be feeling better after the rest day and the meds have their effect; I'm sure he's been trying to play solidly and get through so far (that's what I'd do if I had to play with a fever).

just realize I can follow world chess news here.. :) btw, looking forward for Anand- Carlsen... everybody waiting for Carlsen first decisive game now.

I hope Magnus Carlsen would have more aggresive play and not only make a draw, come on Magnus...........

I think that Anand played a terrific game this round, but I am still hoping Carlsen will come out with a good score.

P.S. Does anyone know how many rounds there are?

The Gelfand-Kramnik encounter was very exciting to watch... a tense game which could have gone either way.

In addition to Kramnik and Anand's lazarus-like returns, I've also been impressed with Aronian. Is it too late to say he could well be the dark horse in this competition?

'GM Hikaru Nakamura has probably been right when he said that "Anand and Kramnik are just in another league than anybody else"'

I disagree actually, I don't see how you can say they are in a 'different league', they are a bit better than most of the rest of the top 10 but I actually think Magnus will be better than either and is currently about even. 

It's Kasparov and Karpov all over again!

GM Hikaru Nakamura has probably been right when he said that "Anand and Kramnik are just in another league than anybody else"