Baku 2.TB: Only two upsets

World Cup 10th September – 5th October Baku, Azerbaijan

Round Two - Game Two

Another fun day of chess in Baku, though if you were betting on rating you would have had a great time today! Out of the fifteen matches only two ended in victories for the lower rated player: the matches between Le Quang Liem and Nikita Vitiugov which favored the Vietnamese player after the rapids and the big upset of the day, Alexander Areschenko defeating Levon Aronian 2-0 also in the rapids.

After this game the Armenian tried some whacky opening to complicate matters, but it was definitely not his style and he lost.

After three quick draws, Nakamura outclassed Shankland (above) in a rook endgame and won the match

Motylev stood no chance against Giri, who eliminated him. Grischuk and Fedoseev traded plenty of draws until finally Grischuk won a game and passed to round three.

Amin Bassem (above) is the only person from the African continent to ever make it to round two, but Jakovenko dashed his hopes of reaching round three. Karjakin split the rapids with Onischuk but the quick (10+10) was easily in favor of the Russian with a 2-0 score.

Laurent Fressinet exited the event as Ian Nepomniachtchi took him down. This leaves Maxime Vachier-Lagrave as the only Frenchman standing in the World Cup. We hope he won't be too lonely...

The top Azeris, Mamedyarov and Radjabov, are still alive and well, going to round three

The last female standing, Hou Yifan, was eliminated by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in rapids

Red Bull is supporting Nakamura everywhere!

The big upset of the round: Alexander Areschenko beat Levon Aronian (above)

Several matches were absolute slugfests. Both Wei Yi vs. Vovk and Nepomniachtchi vs. Fressinet went all the way to the blitz (5+3) playoff. Wei Yi was finally able to break the Ukrainian's defenses and passes to the next round. One match even made it all the way to Armageddon.

Daniel King shows the blitz game Vovk-Wei Yi

After trading blows for the first six games (all decisive games!) the players drew twice in the blitz. The Armageddon was a smashing victory for the English player:

If you are wondering how an almost 2700 player can play such a game, well I can answer that from experience. After six brutal games of chess in one day with your tournament life hanging on every one, nerves through the roof, and tired beyond belief, playing the Armageddon is just about the toughest thing one can do. It's even hard to see the pieces straight, let alone be able to find combinations or even calculate basic tactics. My own loss against Tomashevsky in 2013 was far worse, but even so it will not be a pleasant experience for Laznicka to go over such a demolition.

Adams keeps the English hopes alive!

We will be bringing you the pairings as well as the highlights of the next match ups later today, by Sagar Shah.

All Round 2 TB Games

Round Two Pairings

Photos and information from the official website and their Facebook page