The first Geneva Chess Masters is taking place from June 26th to 30th. Eight players in two groups qualify for a knockout phase. The games are played at 25 minutes + 10 seconds per move. In the initial phase, two groups of four players play two game matches and play-offs (in other words, no ties) and produce points to go into an all-play-all table. The top two in each group go through to the final phase.
Day two of the Geneva Chess Masters was going to prove decisive or not in which players are most likely to make it to the final. In each of the four-player groups, two alone make it to the final, and while being first is not crucial, it doesn’t hurt to cover your tracks and avoid tales of last-minute disaster.
Vladimir Kramnik played Judit Polgar and in a sense this was comforting to him since she is one of those players who just can’t seem to solve the ‘Kramnik Equation’. In their first game, she played White and was well-prepared for his Berlin Wall. Being well-prepared only meant she did not suffer any unpleasant surprises, but nor was she able to achieve anything and they drew.
Judit Polgar was unable to solve the 'Kramnik Equation'
In game two things took a down turn as her Tarrasch was well met by the Russian and he was able to infiltrate her position to take the match.
Yannick Pelletier came hopeful of sustaining his first round success
Yannick Pelletier was eager to repeat his success from day one when he beat Polgar for the tournament’s first major surprise, but Mamedyarov had his own ideas. Their first game was a Gruenfeld in which the Azeri managed to equalize as Black, but in an equal queenless middlegame, the Swiss was outplayed and it was 1-0 for Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In game two, Pelletier put on a great fight and built a winning position but at a serious cost of time. Late in the game, he continuously failed to find the killer blows and it was a final tactical oversight that allowed Mamedyarov to escape with the draw and thus the match.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov fought to the end to secure his spot
Alexandra Kosteniuk was unable to make a dent against Hikaru Nakamura
In the second group, top-seed Hikaru Nakamura played the bottom seed Alexandra Kosteniuk, sporting a nigh 300 Elo advantage. Kosteniuk’s fans would love to read about a heroic save, near win, or the like, but the truth is the American GM outclassed her through and through in their games and it was not close.
Hikaru Nakamura won his second straight match and is in the final
The match between the two French guests started lukewarm as they drew in 18 moves, and one wondered whether they planned on deciding it in the blitz tiebreaks. They did not, and in their second game, Bacrot got the upperhand in a Slav and won a smooth game.
It started slow, but in game two Bacrot came out swinging
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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