Round two of the Altibox Norway Chess tournament may have been quieter than the first round but it had interesting strategic moments and one really tactical game.
Magnus Carlsen played with Black against Veselin Topalov but found no convincing idea against White's slightly unorthodox treatment of the Queen's Gambit Exchange Variation. After a number of exchanges the game quickly petered out to a lifeless position and a quick draw.
Levon Aronian played with Black against Nils Grandelius and with 6...bxc6 he tried something unorthodox in an Anti-Berlin. This move initiated a pawn sacrifice for which Black had enough compensation but after Aronian did not find the best later in the game he was content with a draw.
Pavel Eljanov and Pentala Harikrishna, who both had lost in round one, played an interesting game in the Nimzo-Indian with 4.f3. Black soon sought action on the queenside but this did not stop the white king from walking over to the queenside to flee the many checks and threats of Black's queen. However, White's king was not real safe on the queenside. But because the fierce battle led to a number of exchanges the game wound up in an endgame with opposite-colored bishops that soon was drawn.
Li Chao and Vladimir Kramnik played the Glek-Variation of the Vienna which led to a middlegame in which Li Chao fought with two bishops against two knights. After some tactical skirmishes White gave his queen for two rooks which led to a dynamically balanced endgame, n which Kramnik tried for some time to catch his opponent offguard before finally agreeing to a draw.
The only decisive game of the round was a theoretical duel between Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The two discussed a sharp line of the Najdorf but it soon turned out that Vachier-Lagrave was better prepared. Two inaccuracies by Giri were enough to ruin the white position which Vachier-Lagrave exploited with some powerful tactical strokes.
Results of round two
| Br. | Tit | Name | Coun | ELO | Ergebnis | Titel | Name | Coun | ELO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Nils Grandelius |
|
2637 | ½ - ½ | GM | Levon Aronian |
|
2786 |
| 2 | GM | Li Chao |
|
2755 | ½ - ½ | GM | Vladimir Kramnik |
|
2801 |
| 3 | GM | Anish Giri |
|
2793 | 0 - 1 | GM | Maxime Vachier Lagrave |
|
2785 |
| 4 | GM | Veselin Topalov |
|
2780 | ½ - ½ | GM | Magnus Carlsen |
|
2844 |
| 5 | GM | Pavel Eljanov |
|
2760 | ½ - ½ | GM | Penteala Harikrishna |
|
2753 |
