Before the victory lap, there's the race. Topalov led by a point and a half with three rounds to go and a point with two, but Grischuk - who won this tournament last year - had his own ambitions. It helped to have the white pieces, but Topalov equalized in an unusual Queen's Indian. The position was tense, and Topalov's 16...Bxc3 looked like the first misstep. Maybe he wanted to simplify the position, or maybe he miscalculated something, but after a series of forced moves on move 23 Grischuk enjoyed a much more comfortable position, one with real winning chances and just about no losing chances. There were some little ups and downs the rest of the way, but the general trend was always in White's favor and Grischuk eventually won. This put him in a tie for first and constituted revenge for his loss to Topalov in the first cycle.
The other two games were drawn. Gashimov might have been a little worse against Vallejo at one point, but the opposite-colored bishops went from a potential source of liveliness to an airtight guarantee of a draw. Gelfand-Aronian was also drawn, a sort of Chebanenko-turned-Cambridge Springs-turned-Carlsbad that never managed to turn into something interesting. (That said, it's a good primer on solid play in the QGD.)
Standings After Round 9:
1-2. Grischuk, Topalov 5½
3. Aronian 4½
4-5. Gelfand, Gashimov 4
6. Vallejo Pons 3½
Last Round Pairings:
Topalov - Gelfand
Aronian - Gashimov
Vallejo - Grischuk
A three-way tie for first is thus possible (if extremely unlikely). Whatever the result, however, Carlsen fans will be pleased to know that Topalov is out of first place on the Live Top List again (or will be once its proprietor updates it), so the world championship will be a battle between the world's #2 and #4 players.