Armenian star Levon Aronian and China’s Ding Liren share the lead in the Goldmoney Asian Rapid before the cut is made tomorrow.
Aronian started like a train on the second day and led right until the end having gone five unbeaten on day one. That run stretched to 10 as Aronian scored back-to-back wins in his first two games to move top of the $100,000 event’s leaderboard early on. But draws in the next three games allowed Ding, who won a key final game against Peter Svidler, to catch him up.
First, Aronian toppled World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who lost his first game for the second day in a row. The 38-year-old then crushed the India teen star Arjun Erigaisi before securing a draw against the in-form Dutchman Anish Giri.
Meanwhile, Carlsen again struggled to get into gear in the early stages of a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event and ended the day fifth on 6/10. Having lost to Aronian in the opener, Carlsen found himself in big trouble again in a blockbuster round 7 against Giri.
Giri’s had two knights rampaging into Carlsen’s position and the game looked lost. But the champ woke up from his “knightmare” and managed to escape with a draw after finding a last-gasp resource to force a three-fold repetition.
Giri, who revealed he has just become a father for the second time, must have been kicking himself. He had started the day with a level score against the Tour leader – that stays the same, for now.
Vladislav Artemiev also put in a phenomenal performance to go joint-third with Wesley So on 6.5/10, half a point ahead of Carlsen. And 17-year-old Arjun Erigaisi also impressed, ending the day out of the drop zone.
But the real battle is tomorrow when the 16 scramble for places in the top eight, while the bottom eight bow out.
Salem Saleh, Daniil Dubov, Peter Svidler, Jan-Krzyzsztof Duda and Erigaisi are all on the edge, with the youngster Alireza Firouzja half a point behind.
With five rounds to go before the knockouts start, any one of them could lift themselves into contention or drop out of sight.
The Goldmoney Asian Rapid is broadcast live on Norwegian TV station TV 2 and streamed with commentary in several languages on chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
Highlights will also be available in 60 countries on the Eurosport app. Play resumes tomorrow at 13:00 CEST. All games will be played on the chess24.com playzone.
For further information, please contact:
Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Group
leon@chessable.com
+44 7786 078 770