Harikrishna joins leaders in Biel

International Chess Festival in Biel

Round Two

The main stage overlooks the big open tournament

Video Recap by Daniel King

Today's round was not as exciting as yesterday's, but we still saw some impressive struggles in the second round of Biel.

The Indian player Pentala Harikrishna seemed to overextend a little out of the opening against Anish Giri. The Dutch player however seemed to be content with a draw and offered a repetition... but Harikrishna would have none of that! He refused a draw in a position that really held no advantage to him, but was still very complex. Giri gradually fell under time pressure and in a critical decision he moved his rook in the wrong direction which resulted in catastrophe for his undefended king. Harikrishna came in and swept the full point with a powerful attack.

Harikrishna ties with for first with Hou Yifan and Wojtaszek

Giri started in an unusual 0-2

Daniel King's "Play of the Day"

Hou Yifan keeps showing that her unusual openings are not as bad as one would suspcet. She drew relatively effortlessly against Radoslaw Wojtaszek; the Polish player could claim a small edge throughout the game without it being anything special. The game fizzled out to a draw when too many pieces were traded.

A good start with 1.5/2: Radoslaw Wojtaszek

A solid draw, a good result for Hou Yifan, certainly

Last but not least Maxime Vachier-Lagrave essayed, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, an exchange Slav to try to beat Alexander Motylev. However the Russian player had no real problems throughout the game and he was able to draw the Frenchman in an endgame.

Alexander Motylev had no problems with his exchange Slav

Replay Round Two Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Pictures by Simon Bohnenblust and Marie Boyard.

Schedule

Links Official tournament site Download Games in PGN The games will be 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.