The blitz has just started, so let's get caught up to speed on what has happened the last couple of days, starting with the travails of one Garry Kasparov. On day one, already reported on below, he drew all three games, two normally and one (against Hikaru Nakamura) after being better and then losing. Much more variance was yet to come.
In round 4 he did well, drawing with Black against Levon Aronian. In fact he was winning near the end, a pawn up in a knight ending, but in his usual time pressure he missed a nice tactical trick that let his opponent escape with a draw. Kasparov finally experienced a decisive result in round 5, but not the one he hoped for. Playing very aggressive, enterprising chess Kasparov outplayed Ian Nepomniachtchi in the middlegame, but squandered his advantage with 22.exd7. He was still okay until his 33rd-35th moves. Had he played 33.Rxe8 Rxe8 34.Bf7 all would have been well, but after the interpolation of 33.Rh1 Qg5 that same sequence was losing, as his opponent demonstrated.
Round 6 wasn't as exciting as one would have hoped, with the historic rematch between Viswanathan Anand and Kasparov. Kasparov hoped to play a Najdorf, but Anand played 3.Bb5+, whereupon Kasparov produced an expression that was some funny mix of pain and contempt for the move. Nevertheless, the game still became Najdorf-like, with White hoping to exploit the d5 square and Black looking for counterplay. Kasparov played well, and after 19...d5 stood slightly better. His inaccuracy on move 22 allowed Anand to emerge unscathed, and the draw was soon agreed.
The next day everything was wild. He played great chess against David Navara for the first part of the game, but in the second half things spun out of control. He was still winning - most of the time - but it was a mess. Finally, Navara was equal, but Kasparov still had a tempting trick or two to push for the win. Both sides were short of time, but for once his opponent had less time than he did. Kasparov thought he found a nice win, but unfortunately Navara had seen further, and with a great tactical trick not only saved the game but won it.
Kasparov's pain was somewhat mitigated in round 8 when Le Quang Liem moved a rook where it could be taken in one move, instantly losing what had been an equal position. Finally, in round 9, Kasparov lost again, falling to -2, at the hands of Fabiano Caruana. The game was equal for a long time, but some Kasparov inaccuracies let Caruana outplay him step by step.
In the rest of the show, Aronian finished the rapid portion in first place, though what ultimately matters for money and Grand Chess Tour points is the combined score. Aronian had trouble with the second game of all three days, losing on days 1 and 2 and drawing on day 3, but except for his round 4 draw with Kasparov he won the remaining five games. Nepomniachtchi led most of the way, and would have finished the rapid tied for first if he had defeated Nakamura in the last round. He had chances, but imprecision let Nakamura escape and then even win in a long game. Nakamura is in second, a point behind Aronian (half a point in classical scoring, but since the rapid games are weighted double compared to the blitz games it's a full point in the standings), tied with Caruana.
Here are the standings after the rapid, based on the tournament's 2-1-0 scoring, and here are the games from rounds 2 and 3, with brief comments to each of Kasparov's games.
1. Aronian 12 (of 18)
2-3. Caruana, Nakamura 11
4. Nepomniachtchi 10
5. Dominguez 9
6-7. Le Quang Liem, Karjakin 8
8-10. Navara, Kasparov, Anand 7