Recent Performance

Anand holds the world title, Carlsen is number one on the "live" rating list, Topalov is number one on the FIDE list, and Kramnik has won both major tournaments in which he has participated in 2009 (Dortmund and Tal Memorial).  In your opinion, who has proven the most?

Magnus Øen Carlsen!

Carlsen

Carlsen also won some recent tournament. he is the Best.

It can only be said subjectively, but I believe that Anand and Kramnik currently reign over chess.  Anand showed absolutely spectacular skill in the 2008 WCC, playing with extreme accuracy to simply blow Kasparov's successor off the board.  Since then, however, Kramnik has completely blown everyone away by winning the Tal Memorial and Dortmund, both of which are very strong tournaments.  Making it to the number one spot on the ratings list isn't the same as winning two of the strongest tourneys in the world or claiming the world title.

I think Carlsen showed the most improvement and generally strong play all around. However Kramnik has recently shown that his tactics can still be top notch (when he tries). 

Dont forget that Anand is still the World champion and is a very strong contender in any format of the game.Its just that when he wants to really unleash his full playing strength others would have a pretty tough time to cope up with him.

Much respect goes to Kramnik, Anand, Topalov etc but I think that Carlsen has shown he is the BOSS. Just a while back Carlsen was rated 2783 and, suddenly, he kills everyone in the Pearls Spring Chess Tournament with a performance rating of 3002(!!) I am pretty sure that is one of the best performance ratings in the history of chess. Now, Carlsen is sick and ties for second in the Tal Memorial with only .5 below Kramnik(who is also a very strong player) and, Carlsen is only 18! Just recently, Carlsen has become my chess hero. (I might add I am also a JR player)

Thanks!

Carlsen.

Anand was second after Kramnik till the last round in the Tal tournament. He lost to Aronian in the last round because he played a novelty of dubious quality (Move #12. b3- the regular line apparently is 12. Bc2). He had no reason to play that move unless he wanted to experiment, or deliberately dropped that game.

There is more to that level of chess than meets the eye. Anand had nothing to prove in the Tal Championship, like Topalov in the Nanjing Pearl. They are probably shadow boxing. Their main tournament is the coming World title bout.

Players play to their real and full potential only when their personal stakes are the highest.

So I would say that the current flavor of the month is either Kramnik or Carlsen. For these two it is these "other" competitions that are the highest possible level, so they will play to their full potential.

Anand and Topalov have more incentive to hold back and experiment right now in what for them are "practice" tournaments.

Well said CSR.