Round two of the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest saw the two players who had lost in round one recovering with determined victories. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Bogdan-Daniel Deac both returned to a 50% score, defeating Wesley So and Levon Aronian, respectively. Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja became the sole leader after signing a hard-fought draw in which he had winning chances against Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
Vachier-Lagrave's win over So emerged from a sharp yet theoretically well-known line of the Ruy Lopez. With white, MVL gained a slight advantage out of the opening, though commentator Peter Svidler noted that this variation, once considered more promising for White, is now evaluated as tenable for Black due to resources shown by modern engines.
The players followed a predecessor game until move 20, entering a pure rook and knight versus rook and bishop endgame by move 28. MVL had an extra pawn on the a-file, but engines evaluated the position as close to completely equal still.
For a while, So appeared to be holding the balance. A strong technical player, the US star continued to keep his drawing chances alive until move 68, when he faltered with 68...Rg8+
The correct defensive continuation, 68...Kb6, would have forced MVL to continue looking for ways to manoeuvre his pieces to finally make the most of his material advantage. In the game, though, So was forced to resign five moves later, allowing MVL to claim his first win of the tournament after a lengthy struggle.
The two decisive games of the second round featured lengthy, hard-fought battles | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Deac also recovered from a disappointing opening-round loss to So by defeating Levon Aronian in a grinding encounter. Deac, the local wildcard, played patiently and eventually converted a small positional edge into a full point after a complex technical endgame. This result provided a significant morale boost for the Romanian representative, who had lost following a one-move blunder in the previous round (see full analysis of the game below).
The remaining three games ended in draws, though not without excitement. Alireza Firouzja fought hard to maintain his winning chances against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, reaching a dynamic middlegame in which the French representative was running low on time. Firouzja, however, was unable to find the most precise continuations and had to settle for a 55-move draw. Still, he is now the sole leader in Bucharest with 1½ points.
Meanwhile, the clash between Gukesh Dommaraju and Nodirbek Abdusattorov saw the world champion deviating from mainline opening theory early on, leading to a strategically rich middlegame that eventually fizzled into a draw. Similarly, Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu departed from conventional opening ideas, with neither player managing to gain a decisive edge before agreeing to a draw.
Round 2 results
Heading into round three, Firouzja will have the white pieces against Caruana in a crucial matchup, while Deac will look to build on his momentum when he faces Gukesh with black.
Alireza Firouzja tried hard but could not break through Jan-Krzysztof Duda's defences | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Bogdan-Daniel Deac | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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