Yes, Kramnik's advantage seemed to dissipate after the exchanges in the center.  Black might still have something in the final position, but it's not much.

Maybe 15...c4, which looked strong at the time, wasn't the best way to go?

As for the game Savchenko-Heinzel, I don't know either player, but I really like Black's treatement of the "Polish-Deferred". Just punishment for the cowardly 2. Kf3 !

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I agree, however the position may seem strange to some White players, so it has mostly a surprise / inconvenience merit, which is good for an alternative weapon or for blitz-lovers as Ostap mentioned..

..and Kramnik looks rather good now

[quote author=OstapBender link=1182559174/15#19 date=1182867866]Wow! Naiditsch played the Nimzowitsch Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6) against Leko.  You don't see this line much at the top level.

Although Leko's reply seemed to avoid critical lines, he seems to have a bit of an edge nonetheless.[/quote]

Well, in a way 3. e5 Ktd5 ; 4. d4 cd ; 5. Qxd4 can be considered critical, especially if you compare it with the "theoretical" 1. e4 c5 ; 2. c3 Ktf6 ; 3. e5 Ktd5 ; 4. d4 cd ; 5. Qxd4. That's supposed to be equal but doing without c3 essentially gives White an extra tempo and frees the Queen's Knight's best square.

Mamedyarov-Kramnik looks like another fine game by Kramnik.  A bit too soon to call, but this may result in another win for Kramnik.  Meanwhile Carlsen-Alekseev looks like maybe a slight edge for Carlsen, so Kramnik could take a full point lead if he wins.

Wow! Naiditsch played the Nimzowitsch Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6) against Leko.  You don't see this line much at the top level.

Although Leko's reply seemed to avoid critical lines, he seems to have a bit of an edge nonetheless.

Anand Leko second round, is this after Bc5 such an obvious draw?

Kramnik clearly loves the Catalan structure and deserves credit for his new idea. I don't see this developing into a main line but he did well to come up with a fresh interpretation of this line.