Bilbao, Rd. 2: Carlsen overpowers Wei Yi

by André Schulz
7/14/2016 – After his first round loss Magnus Carlsen was determined to strike back in round two. Playing with Black against Wei Yi he managed to reach a better endgame in which he finally overpowered the Chinese. Sergey Karjakin and Anish Giri threw it all at each other but after a long fight were forced to split the point in a basic pawn ending. The draw between Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So was much less exciting.

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Wesley So and Magnus Carlsen

Hikaru Nakamura was playing with Black against Wesley. The game was not that spectacular but lasted for no less than 46 moves  It still was the shortest game of the round.

The two other games offered more excitement.

After a loss the World Champion is usually determined to strike back. This showed in his game against Wei Yi, the youngest participant in Bilbao. After Wei Yi's 1.e4 Carlsen went for 1...g6 and reached a slightly better, tricky endgame, in which Carlsen found a number of tactical resources that helped him to win.
 

Wei Yi against Magnus Carlsen

 


Sergey Karjakin and Anish Giri showed fireworks and mutual attacks. Giri's king first came under heavy fire but Karjakin failed to find a way to win and the turbulent game finally ended in a draw.

 

 

Results of round two

Board. Title Name ELO Res. Title Name ELO
1 GM Wesley So 2775 ½ - ½ GM Hikaru Nakamura 2787
2 GM Yi Wei 2694 0 - 1 GM Magnus Carlsen 2851
3 GM Anish Giri 2790 ½ - ½ GM Sergey Karjakin 2779

Games of rounds 1 and 2

 

 

Standings after two rounds

In Bilbao the three-point rule applies.

Tournament page...

 


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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