Three decisive games today in the second round of the pools, and we already have two clear leaders! In Pool A huge win by the American GM Sam Shankland, who catch Andreikin in the lead with 1.5/2, as the Russian was held to a draw by the Frenchman Bacrot.

 

It's weird to see the great Alexander Grischuk with zero points after two rounds, but the Russian is a resourceful player, and he will bounce back.

 Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 0 0   0.0 Shankland 1 aa   1/2 1.5 Andreikin 1   aa 1/2 1.5 Bacrot   1/2 1/2 aa 1.0

In Pool B, Anish Giri won again, defeating Nikita Vitiugov today. Anish is the clear favorite in his pool, and he's respecting the prediction so far.

 

Harikrishna and Tabatabaei drew.

 

 Pool B 1 2 3 4 PTS Giri aa   1 1 2.0 Harikrishna   aa 0 1/2 0.5 Vitiugov 0 1 aa   1.0 Tabatabaei 0 1/2   aa 0.5

In Pool C, Vidit defeated Fedoseev, and now he leads with a full score: 2.0/2.

 

Shirov held the strong Hungarian GM Richard Rapport to a draw.

 

 Pool C 1 2 3 4 PTS Rapport aa 1/2   1/2 1.0 Fedoseev 1/2 aa 0   0.5 Vidit   1 aa 1 2.0 Shirov 1/2 0   aa 0.5

In Pool D, today again two draws. It looks like GM Burke was right, defining this pool as the "hardest" for the players.

 Pool D 1 2 3 4 PTS Mamedyarov aa 1/2 1/2   1.0 Yu Yangyi 1/2 aa   1/2 1.0 Vachier-Lagrave 1/2   aa 1/2 1.0 Predke   1/2 1/2 aa 1.0

Tomorrow Round 3 of the double round-robin tournament, which will determine the semifinalists. Play starts at 9 AM EST - 15:00 Belgrade (CET) - 14:00 UTC.