World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

[Hans Jung]

Wesley So quietly made use of his positional trumps. A nice played positional game.

[Jeffrey Xu]

my predictions:

Sub-bracket winners:
1: Ding Liren
2. Alexander Grischuk
3: Yu Yangyi
4: Sergey Karjakin
5. Peter Svidler
6. Vladislav Artemiev
7. Shak Mamedyarov
8. Anish Giri

round 5:
Grischuk beats Ding
Yangyi beats Karjakin
Svidler beats Artemiev
Anish beats Shak

6:
Grischuk beats Yangyi
Anish beats Svidler

7: Grischuk beats Anish

1. Grischuk
2. Anish
3. Svidler

[Wayne Komer]

World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

September 14, 2019

Round Two

Game Two

From the official site:

Three players won their matches with two wins: Sergey Karjakin (Russia), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France).

Many more matches ended with a 1.5-0.5 score. In arguably the most sensational one, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (Germany) made a draw from the position of strength with Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and proceeded to the next round.

Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) won the match against his compatriot Alexandr Predke, Dmitry Andreikin (Russia) defeated Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan), Levon Aronian (Armenia) won against Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) won Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Xu Xiangyu (China) defeated Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia), Wesley So (USA) defeated Anton Demchenko (Russia), Pentala Harikrishna (India) defeated Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), Wang Hao (China) defeated Maxim Rodshtein (Israel), Vladislav Artemiev (Russia) won against Ivan Cheparinov (Georgia), Evgeny Tomashevsky (Russia) knocked out Chitambaram Aravindth (India), Anton Korobov (Ukraine) lost to Le Quang Liem (Vietnam), Aleksandr Rakhmanov (Russia) lost to Santosh Vidit (India), and Daniil Dubov (Russia) lost to Alireza Firouzja (Iran).

A large number of matches will once again be decided on tie-breaks.

Only two players managed to come back after losing the first game: Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan) defeated Nihal Sarin (India), and Wei Yi (China) managed to win as Black against David Anton Guijarro (Spain).

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Movsesian, Sergei – Ding, Liren
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 O-O 9.O-O cxd5 10.Bg5 c6 11.Qf3 Bd6 12.Rae1 Rb8 13.Nd1 h6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.b3 f5 17.Ne3 f4 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.Bxf5 Kg7 20.g3 Kf6 21.Bd3 Bb4 22.Re2 Rfe8 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Kg2 Re1 25.Rxe1 Bxe1 26.gxf4 a5 27.Kf3 Ke6 28.Ke3 Bc3 29.Bf1 Kd6 30.Kd3 Be1 1/2-1/2

The players move on to the tie-break round tomorrow

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Firouzja, Alireza – Dubov, Daniil
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 O-O 7.h3 Qb6 8.a4 a6 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.e5 Nd5 11.a5 Qd8 12.d3 d6 13.Qa4 dxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Rxe5 Qd6 16.Re1 Bf5 17.Na3 Rfe8 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.Be3 Nxe3 20.Rxe3 Rad8 21.Ne5 f6 22.Qxc6 Qd6 23.Qxd6 exd6 24.Ng4 Rxe3 25.fxe3 Rb8 26.Nxf6+ Kg7 27.Nd5 Rxb2 28.e4 Bd7 29.Rf1 Be6 30.Nc7 Bd7 31.Nxa6 Rb7 32.c4 Be8 33.e5 Ra7 34.Nb8 Rb7 35.Na6 Ra7 36.Nb8 Rb7 37.exd6 Rxb8 38.Re1 Kf8 39.Re7 Rd8 40.a6 Rxd6 41.a7 Rd8 42.Rb7 Bc6 43.Rc7 Be8 44.Kf2 g5 45.Ke3 h6 46.g3 Bg6 47.Rb7 Rxd3+ 48.Kf2 Ra3 49.Rb8+ Kg7 50.a8=Q Rxa8 51.Rxa8 Bd3 52.Ra4 Kf6 53.Ke3 Bf1 54.h4 gxh4 55.gxh4 Ke5 56.Ra6 Bxc4 57.Rxh6 Be6 58.Rg6 Bf5 59.Rg1 Kf6 60.h5 Bh7 61.h6 Bg6 62.Kd2 Kf7 63.Kc3 Kf6 64.Kc4 Bf7+ 65.Kxc5 Bg6 66.Kd6 Kf7 67.Ke5 Bd3 68.Rg7+ Kf8 1-0

Position after 57.Rxh6. White wins in 38 moves after 57…Kf5



Another of the fascinating endgames that this tournament has produced

Firouzja moves on to the next round

Alekseenko and Christiansen draw and so have to go to tiebreaks tomorrow

Harikrishna and Fedoseev draw and so Harikrishna goes on to the next round

Abasov and Dominguez draw and so, go to the tiebreak

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Rodshtein, Maxim – Wang, Hao
D12 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.g3 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Bb4 10.Qb3 Ba5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Bd3 O-O 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qxb6 Nxb6 15.b3 Rac8 16.Rfc1 Nbd7 17.a3 e5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Be2 d4 20.exd4 Nc6 21.Be3 Rcd8 22.Na4 Nxd4 23.Bd1 Rfe8 24.b4 Bb6 25.Nxb6 axb6 26.Kg2 Rd7 27.Ra2 Red8 28.Raa1 Ne4 29.h4 Kh7 30.a4 f5 31.a5 b5 32.a6 bxa6 33.Rxa6 Nf6 34.Bg5 Re8 35.Bxf6 gxf6 36.h5 Kg7 37.hxg6 Kxg6 38.Rc3 Red8 39.Rc5 Rh8 40.g4 Rdh7 41.Kg3 Rh1 42.Kf4 Rxd1 43.gxf5+ Kh5 44.Rxf6 Re8 0-1

Wang Hao to Round 3

Grischuk and Bok draw and so go on to the tiebreaks tomorrow

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Xu, Xiangyu – Inarkiev, Ernesto
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bd2 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.Bd3 Ba6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 d5 10.dxc5 dxc4 11.Bc2 Nbd7 12.cxb6 axb6 13.h4 Qc7 14.Qd4 Rfd8 15.h5 h6 16.Rh3 Kf8 17.Rg3 Bb7 18.Qh4 Qd6 19.Rd1 Qe7 20.Qxc4 Nc5 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Qh4 Be4 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.Bxe4 Nd7 25.Ne5 Rc8 26.Nxd7 Rxc3 27.Qg3+ Kh8 28.Nxf6 Qxf6 29.bxc3 Qxc3+ 30.Ke2 f5 31.Bd3 Qb2+ 32.Kf3 Qxa3 33.Qe5+ Kh7 34.Qc7+ Kg8 35.Qd8+ Kf7 36.Bc4 Qa4 37.Qc8 Qd1+ 38.Kf4 Qd6+ 39.Kf3 Qd1+ 40.Be2 Qd5+ 41.Kg3 Qe5+ 42.Kh3 Qb2 43.Bc4 Qe5 44.Qd7+ Kf6 45.Qd8+ Kf7 46.Qxb6 1-0

Xu Xiangyu goes on to the next round

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
So, Wesley – Demchenko, Anton
D31 QGD, Janowski variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 c6 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Qxb6 Nxb6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nh4 a5 13.O-O-O Bb4 14.Ne2 Nc4 15.Nf4 Bd6 16.Nh5 Be7 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.Bxf5 Nd6 19.Bd3 Rg8 20.Rhg1 f5 21.Ng3 Bh4 22.Rdf1 Bxg3 23.hxg3 h6 24.Rh1 Rg6 25.Rh5 Rf6 26.Rfh1 Ke7 27.Rxh6 Rxh6 28.Rxh6 Rg8 29.Kd2 Kd7 30.Ke2 Ke7 31.Kf3 b6 32.Kf4 Rg4+ 33.Ke5 f6+ 34.Rxf6 Nf7+ 35.Rxf7+ Kxf7 36.Bxf5 Rg7 37.g4 Ke7 38.f4 Rg8 39.g5 Re8 40.Be6 1-0

Wesley So goes on to Round 3

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Rakhmanov, Aleksandr – Vidit, Gujrathi
A35 English, Symmetrical, Four Knights System

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 d5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 dxc4 7.Nxc6 Qxd1+ 8.Nxd1 bxc6 9.Bg2 Nd5 10.Ne3 e6 11.Nxc4 Ba6 12.Ne3 Rb8 13.b3 Be7 14.Bd2 O-O 15.Bf3 Rfd8 16.Ba5 Rdc8 17.Rd1 Bc5 18.Bd2 Kf8 19.O-O Ke7 20.Nc2 h6 21.Rc1 g5 22.Rfd1 f5 23.e4 fxe4 24.Bxe4 Rd8 25.Ba5 Rdc8 26.Nd4 Bxd4 27.Rxd4 c5 28.Rd2 Rb5 29.Bc3 Nxc3 30.Rxc3 Rb4 31.Re3 Rd4 32.Rxd4 cxd4 33.Re1 Kd6 34.f3 e5 35.Kf2 Rc3 36.h4 Bd3 37.Bxd3 Rxd3 38.hxg5 hxg5 39.f4 exf4 40.gxf4 g4 41.Re4 Rf3+ 42.Ke2 d3+ 43.Kd2 g3 44.Ra4 Rf1 45.Ra6+ Kd5 46.Rg6 Rf3 47.Ra6 Rxf4 48.Rg6 Rf3 49.a4 a5 50.Rg5+ Ke4 51.Rg4+ Kf5 52.Rg7 Kf4 53.Rg8 Ke4 54.Rg4+ Kf5 55.Rg7 Kf4 56.Rg8 Rf2+ 57.Kxd3 g2 58.Kc4 Rb2 59.Kb5 Rxb3+ 60.Kxa5 Rg3 61.Rf8+ Ke5 62.Re8+ 0-1

Vidit to Round 3

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Sevian, Samuel – Karjakin, Sergey
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 a6 8.Nbd2 Qe7 9.a4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Bd5 Ba7 12.Nc4 g4 13.Nh4 Qg5 14.d4 Ne7 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Na5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 O-O 18.Rd1 Nf4 19.Qb3 Be6 20.Qb4 Rad8 21.O-O Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Rd8 23.Rf1 Ne2+ 24.Kh1 Qd2 25.Qa3 Bb6 26.b4 Nxc3 27.Nxb7 Qe2 28.Qc1 Rd1 29.Rxd1 Nxd1 30.h3 Nxf2+ 31.Kh2 Nxe4 32.Nc5 Bxc5 33.bxc5 Nxg3 34.Kxg3 Qd3+ 35.Kh2 g3+ 36.Kh1 Bd5 37.Qe1 Kh7 38.a5 f5 39.c6 f4 40.Kg1 Qd4+ 41.Kh1 Be4 42.Qf1 Kg7 43.Qe1 Kf6 44.Qc1 Kg5 45.Qf1 Bxc6 46.Qe1 Kxh4 47.Qxg3+ Kxg3 0-1

Karjakin goes on to Round 3

Huschenbeth and Vitiugov draw and so, go to the tiebreaks tomorrow

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Predke, Alexandr – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
D90 Grunfeld, Flohr variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qb3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 O-O 8.Bf4 Na6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 Nh5 11.Be3 Nb4 12.O-O-O b5 13.Qb3 a5 14.dxc5 Qc8 15.Bxb5 Bxb5 16.Nxb5 Rb8 17.a4 Qg4 18.h3 Qf5 19.Qc4 Rfc8 20.Nbd4 Qe4 21.Qxf7+ Kh8 22.Qc4 Nf4 23.Bxf4 Qxf4+ 24.Kb1 Nc6 25.Qe6 Nxe5 26.Nxe5 Bxe5 27.g3 Qe4+ 28.Ka1 Rxc5 29.Rhe1 Qb7 30.Nb5 Bf6 31.Rd7 Qf3 32.Qe3 Qf5 33.Red1 Qc2 34.Qa3 Rc4 35.R7d2 Qxa4 36.Rd8+ Kg7 37.Rxb8 Qxd1+ 0-1

Nepo goes on to Round 3

Aravindh and Tomashevsky draw and so Tomashevsky goes on to Round 3

Adhiban and Yu Yangyi draw and so go to the tiebreaks tomorrow

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

World Cup 2019 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

September 14, 2019

Round Two

Game Two (continued)

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Anton Guijarro, David – Wei, Yi
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 h5 4.h3 d6 5.Nc3 h4 6.g4 f5 7.gxf5 Bxf5 8.d3 Nf6 9.Nf3 Be7 10.d4 Qd7 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qxd7+ Nxd7 13.O-O O-O-O 14.Nd5 Bf6 15.Be3 e4 16.Nd2 Rhe8 17.Nxf6 gxf6 18.Rac1 Nf8 19.Nb1 Bh7 20.Nc3 f5 21.Nd5 Ne6 22.Rcd1 Rf8 23.f4 Rd7 24.Bf2 Rg7 25.Bxh4 Ncd4 26.Rd2 c6 27.Ne3 Bg6 28.Kh2 Bh5 29.Rf2 Rd7 30.Bf1 a5 31.Ng2 a4 32.Kh1 Rh7 33.Bg5 c5 34.h4 Re8 35.Ne3 Reh8 36.Rh2 Nxg5 37.fxg5 f4 38.Nd5 e3 39.Rxd4 cxd4 40.Nxf4 Be8 41.Kg2 Rxh4 42.Rxh4 Rxh4 43.Kg3 Rh1 44.Bh3+ Kc7 45.Ne6+ Kd6 46.Nxd4 Rb1 47.Kf4 Rxb2 48.Bf5 Rxa2 49.g6 a3 50.g7 Bf7 51.Bh7 Rxe2 52.Nb5+ Kc5 53.Nxa3 Ra2 0-1

Wei Yi wins and so the match goes to tiebreaks tomorrow

Najer and Giri draw and the match goes to tiebreaks tomorrow

Xiong and Tabatabaei draw and the match goes to tiebreaks tomorrow

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Jumabayev, Rinat – Andreikin, Dmitry
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Be2 dxc4 8.O-O a6 9.a4 c5 10.d5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Qxd5 Nf6 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Bc7 Rd7 15.Ba5 b5 16.Ne5 Rd5 17.Bf3 Be6 18.Bxd5 Nxd5 19.Nc6 Bf8 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rfd1 Ra6 22.Nb8 Rd6 23.e4 Nf4 24.Rxd6 Bxd6 25.Nc6 h6 26.Bc3 b4 27.Be5 Bxe5 28.Nxe5 c3 29.bxc3 Ne2+ 30.Kf1 Nxc3 31.Ke1 b3 32.Nd3 c4 33.Nb2 Na2 34.Nd1 c3 35.f3 Kh7 36.Ne3 b2 37.Rb1 Nb4 0-1

Andreikin goes on to Round 3

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Nabaty, Tamir
A21 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Ne7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 Nbc6 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bg5 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxd1+ 11.Rxd1 f6 12.Bf4 Be6 13.Rb1 b6 14.c5 Bxa2 15.Ra1 Bd5 16.e4 Bc4 17.Bxc7 b5 18.Ra6 Rfe8 19.Kd2 f5 20.Rha1 fxe4 21.Bxe4 b4 22.Rxa7 Rxa7 23.Rxa7 b3 24.Ra4 Bd5 25.Bd6 Bf7 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.Bxc6 Re5 28.Rb4 Rxc5 29.Bb5 g5 30.Bd3 Ra5 31.c4 Ra2+ 32.Ke3 b2 33.c5 Kg7 34.Rb7 Ra5 35.c6 Rc5 36.Be4 Rc3+ 37.Kd4 Rb3 38.Bb1 Ra3 39.Rxb2 Ra4+ 40.Ke5 Ra5+ 41.Kd6 Rd5+ 42.Kc7 Rd4 43.Bf5 Kf6 44.Bd7 Bd5 45.Kb6 Ke7 46.Kc5 Rd1 47.Bg4 1-0

Duda to Round 3

Mamedyarov draws with Kasimdzhanov and goes to Round 3

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Safarli, Etaj – Nihal Sarin
C52 Evans Gambit, Tartakower Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 d6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.O-O Bb6 9.Nbd2 Na5 10.Qb1 Ne7 11.dxe5 O-O 12.Bb5 c6 13.Bd3 Rd8 14.Nc4 Nxc4 15.Bxc4 Ng6 16.Rd1 Qg4 17.Rxd6 Rf8 18.Qb3 Nf4 19.Bxf4 Qxf4 20.Rd3 Bg4 21.e6 fxe6 22.Bxe6+ Kh8 23.Bxg4 Qxe4 24.Rd7 Qxg4 25.Ne5 Qf4 26.Nf7+ Kg8 27.Nd6+ Kh8 28.Rf1 h6 29.Kh1 Rf6 30.Nc4 Bxf2 31.Nd2 Qg4 32.Rxb7 Rg6 33.Rxf2 Kh7 34.Nf3 Re8 35.Qb1 Re3 36.Rb4 Qe6 37.Rf1 1-0

The game drawn, Safarli and Sarin go to tiebreaks tomorrow

Sjugirov and Radjabov draw and go to tiebreaks

Yuffa and McShane draw and go to tiebreaks

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Kovalenko, Igor – MVL
B23 Sicilian, Closed

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.f3 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.d4 e6 8.Be3 cxd4 9.Qxd4 Qxd4 10.Nxd4 Bc5 11.O-O-O Nc6 12.Nf5 Bxe3+ 13.Nxe3 Ke7 14.Bb5 Rd8 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Rxd8 Kxd8 17.f4 Kc7 18.Kd2 Bb7 19.Re1 Rd8+ 20.Kc3 c5 21.g3 Rd4 22.b3 Re4 23.Kd2 Rd4+ 24.Kc1 f6 25.c3 Rd3 26.Nd1 Kd6 27.Kc2 Rf3 28.Re2 h6 29.Nb2 Bd5 30.Rd2 Kc6 31.Re2 Kd6 32.c4 Bc6 33.Kd2 g5 34.Nd3 gxf4 35.Nxf4 e5 36.Ng2 a5 37.Ne1 Rf1 38.Kc3 Bd7 39.Nc2 Rf3+ 40.Kb2 Bf5 41.Ne1 Rf1 42.Ka3 Kc6 43.Ka4 Bg4 44.Re4 Bf5 45.Re2 Bg4 46.Re3 Rf2 47.Ka3 Rxh2 48.Nf3 Rf2 49.Nh4 Bh5 50.Re1 Be2 51.Ng6 Kd6 52.Rh1 h5 53.Ra1 Bg4 54.Ka4 e4 55.Re1 Rxa2+ 56.Kb5 Ra3 57.Nf4 Rxb3+ 58.Kxa5 Kc6 59.Ka4 Rxg3 60.Nd5 Rd3 61.Ne7+ Kd6 62.Rxe4 Bd7+ 63.Ka5 Kc7 64.Nd5+ Kb7 0-1

MVL to Round 3

Jones and Jakovenko draw and go to tiebreaks

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Nakamura, Hikaru – Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 c5 9.O-O-O Be6 10.a3 d5 11.h4 f6 12.h5 Nc6 13.Nh4 Qd7 14.f3 Rad8 15.g4 d4 16.Bf4 Ne5 17.Qe1 Qd5 18.b3 c4 19.Rxd4 Qa5 20.Bxc4 Bxc4 21.bxc4 Bxa3+ 22.Kd1 Bb4 23.Rxd8 Rxd8+ 24.Ke2 Bxc3 25.Qb1 Bd2 26.Bg3 Bg5 27.Be1 Qc5 28.Qb3 Bxh4 29.Bxh4 Nxc4 30.Re1 Re8+ 1/2-1/2

Nakamura and Nisipeanu draw and Nisipeanu goes on to Round 3. A shocker.

Svidler and Esipenko draw and so go to tiebreaks

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Aronian, Levon – Maghsoodloo, Parham
C01 French, Exchange variation

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.Nc3 Nge7 7.Nb5 Bg4 8.c3 Qd7 9.Be3 O-O-O 10.h3 Bf5 11.Nh4 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 h6 13.Nxd6+ cxd6 14.g3 Kb8 15.O-O-O Ka8 16.Bd2 b5 17.Kb1 Rb8 18.Rc1 b4 19.cxb4 Nxb4 20.Bxb4 Rxb4 21.Rc3 Rhb8 22.b3 g5 23.Nf3 Nc6 24.Rhc1 R4b6 25.Ne1 Nb4 26.Qf3 Ra6 27.Nd3 Nxa2 28.Qxd5+ Qb7 29.Qxb7+ Kxb7 30.Rc7+ Ka8 31.R1c4 Rxb3+ 32.Kc2 Raa3 33.Rd7 Rc3+ 34.Rxc3 Nxc3 35.Rd8+ Kb7 36.Rxd6 Ne4 37.Nc5+ Nxc5 38.dxc5 Ra6 39.Rd7+ Kc6 40.Rxf7 Kxc5 41.f4 gxf4 42.Rxf4 Ra2+ 43.Kb3 Rg2 44.Rg4 Rd2 45.Kc3 Rd6 46.Rc4+ Kd5 47.Rd4+ Ke5 48.Rxd6 Kxd6 49.g4 Ke5 50.h4 a5 51.g5 hxg5 52.hxg5 Kf5 53.Kc4 Kxg5 54.Kb5 Kf5 55.Kxa5 1/2-1/2

Aronian on to Round 3

Matlakov and Gelfand draw and so go to tiebreaks

Cheparinov and Artemiev draw and Artemiev goes on to Round 3

Round 2, Game 2, Sept. 14
Le, Quang Liem - Korobov, Anton
B70 Sicilian, Dragon, Counter Fianchetto

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.g3 g6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bg7 7.Bg2 O-O 8.O-O Nc6 9.Nde2 Rb8 10.a4 b6 11.h3 Ba6 12.Be3 Nd7 13.Re1 Bxe2 14.Rxe2 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Qc7 16.f4 b5 17.Kh2 Rfc8 18.Rd2 Nf6 19.e5 dxe5 20.fxe5 Qxe5 21.Bf4 Qxc3 22.Bxb8 Rxb8 23.Qe1 Nd4 24.Rad1 e5 25.Rf2 Qxe1 26.Rxe1 Kg7 27.Rxe5 bxa4 28.Ra5 Rc8 29.Rxa4 Rxc2 30.Rxf6 Kxf6 31.Rxd4 h5 32.Rd6+ Ke7 33.Ra6 Rc7 34.Be4 Kf8 35.Kg2 Kg7 36.Ra3 Re7 37.Kf3 Kh6 38.Kf4 Kg7 39.Kf3 Kh6 40.Bd3 Kg7 41.Ra6 Kh6 42.Kf2 Kg7 43.Be2 Kh6 44.Ra3 Kg7 45.Ke1 Rd7 46.Bf3 Kf8 47.Ke2 Kg7 48.Ke3 Kf6 49.Ra5 Kg7 50.Bd5 Kf6 51.Kd4 Rc7 52.Ra3 Re7 53.Kc5 a5 54.Kd6 Ra7 55.Bc6 Kg5 56.Ra4 Kf6 57.Re4 Kg7 58.Kc5 Kf6 59.Kd6 Kg7 60.Re3 Kf6 61.Rf3+ Kg7 62.Ra3 Kf6 63.Re3 Kg7 64.Kc5 Kf6 65.g4 hxg4 66.hxg4 g5 67.Kb6 Re7 68.Rf3+ Kg6 69.Kxa5 Re5+ 70.Kb6 Kg7 71.Bd7 Rd5 72.Kc6 Rd4 73.Ra3 Kf6 74.Ra5 Ke7 75.Re5+ Kf6 76.Rd5 Ra4 77.Kd6 Ra6+ 78.Bc6 Kg6 79.Rf5 1-0

Rook and Bishop vs Rook ending!

Le goes on to Round 3

Results

Round 2, tiebreaks tomorrow

Ding Liren-Movsesian
Najer-Giri
Dominguez-Abasov
Grischuk-Bok
Sjugirov-Radjabov
Adhiban-Yu Yangyi
Alekseenko-Christiansen
Esipenko-Svidler
Vitiugov-Huschenbeth
Wei Yi-Guijarro
McShane-Yuffa
Safarli-Nihal Sarin
Matlakov-Gelfand
Jakovenko-Jones
Xiong-Tabatabaei

(15 matches)

Through to Round 3

Firouzja
Harikrishna
Wang Hao
Xu Xiangyu
So
Vidit
Karjakin
Nepomniachtchi
Tomashevsky
Andreikin
Duda
Mamedyarov
MVL
Nisipeanu
Aronian
Artemiev
Le

(17 players)

[Jeffrey Xu]

my predictions:

Sub-bracket winners:
1: Ding Liren
2. Alexander Grischuk
3: Yu Yangyi
4: Sergey Karjakin
5. Peter Svidler
6. Vladislav Artemiev
7. Shak Mamedyarov
8. Anish Giri

round 5:
Grischuk beats Ding
Yangyi beats Karjakin
Svidler beats Artemiev
Anish beats Shak

6:
Grischuk beats Yangyi
Anish beats Svidler

7: Grischuk beats Anish

1. Grischuk
2. Anish
3. Svidler

Predictions for next round:

Ding beats Firouzja
Harikrishna beats Kirill
Grischuk beats Xiangyu
Wang Hao beats Dominguez
Nepo beats Tomashevsky
Yangyi beats Wei Yi
Karjakin beats Vitiugov
Vidit beats Wesley
MVL beats Jakovenko
Svidler beats Nisipeanu
Artemiev beats Le Quang
Levon beats Matlakov
Shak beats Eltaj
Radjabov beats Yuffa
Andreikin beats Duda
Giri beats Xiong

[Hans Jung]

A lot of rash sacrifices and nervous moves in the first game of round 2 playoffs.

[Hans Jung]

Dominguez sacked rashly but was rewarded when his opponent did not find good defensive moves.

[Hans Jung]

Peter Svidler swooped with his rook c8-c3-e3 and with his knights coming in his opponent panicked with Qxf7+ exchanging queens but leaving a knight dangling at the end.

[Hans Jung]

Jeffrey Xiong combined positional understanding with pressure play to pick his opponents position apart and taking every last pawn.

[Hans Jung]

In the second game of rd 2 playoffs Dominguez combined nice pawn play with a dominating bishop outpost before a well timed F pawn breakthru on the king position to sweep the match.

[Hans Jung]

Peter Svidler's game featured a lot of interesting sparring before his opponent blundered.

[Hans Jung]

Jeffery Xiong continued with pressure play and revved up the tactics with an interesting bishop sacrifice on g2 against the king position.

[Hans Jung]

In Jones - Jakovenko tragedy struck. Jones was winning but with some imprecise moves allowed a perpetual. In trying to escape the perpetual his king went on a walk of no return which led to his doom.

[Hans Jung]

The McShane - Yuffa playoff series provided much entertainment with many long games and a fair number of mistakes. After two long losses just when I thought Luke McShane had run out of gas he came up with a must win (not easy to do!) before finally losing two straight. A lot of moves were played in total.

[Hans Jung]

Najer - Giri series started slow and quiet as gentlemen should until Anish Giri stepped into a minefield with his king caught in the center in game two. Unfortunately his pponent couldnt put him away and so lucky Anish survived and the battle continued thru 4 more games before being decided in Anish's favor in armageddon.