Too bad for Kramnik in the 2018 candidates tourney, incredible to see him leading then lose 3 games like this. Hard times.

ReneDescartes wrote on 10/30/17 at 16:16:14:

He could always have taken part in the Grand Prix.. 
In the first place, this looks like a silly statement, considering it applies to literally everyone else (that isn't qualified) as well?!

It seems to me horrible that MVL, who has a higher rating than Kramnik, lost to the eventual winner in the World Cup Semifinals (Kramnik went out 3 rounds earlier), scored some great results recently overall (amongst them winning the Sinquefield Cup), and even is doing fine in the GP (as he is actually playing in it..), is guaranteed to not make it into the Candidates if he doesn't do extremely well in the last leg of that tour - because, unlike Kramnik, he wasn't born in a chess country, nor is backed by political/media powers. 

Since the inception of the wildcard for the Candidates, there's been two Azeri, two Russians, and one Armenian "qualifying" via buy-in. The entire concept is just rotten.

Great news for Kramnik fans like me.  Agon has actually made a decision that doesn't place insider politics over sound reasoning (it's no doubt just good business in the normal sense). It seemed to me horrible that Kramnik lost a berth because of what happened in two fairly random events, the Isle of Man and the World Cup. Kramnik's enormous match experience, his legendary talent,  his still relatively young age, his achievement in tying Carlsen on points in the latter's first Candidates' tournament, and even his astronomical so-called intrinsic rating all cry out for his participation.