Round 2 at M-Tel Masters
Ivanchuk topples Topalov
After the excitement of the first round, day 2 in Sofia only produced one decisive game, but what a game!
Fresh from his first round defeat of the dangerous Lev Aronian with the Black pieces, Topalov pressed hard against Ivanchuk but the Ukranian (pictured) was up to the task and held firm against the onslaught to emerge victorious.
The time control at M-Tel is 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by an extra 60 minutes to finish the game. There is no time increment per move, which can lead to more time-trouble errors as the players run down the clock.
Bu Xiangzhi and Teimour Radjabov played a hard fought game that ended in perhaps the most certain draw possible - bare kings! Aronian and Cheparinov was an altogether more placid affair, ending in an opposite coloured bishop drawn ending.
The results in round 2:
Veselin Topalov | 0-1 | Vassily Ivanchuk |
Bu Xiangzhi | ½-½ | Teimour Radjabov |
Levon Aronian | ½-½ | Ivan Cheparinov |
The standings after round 2:
| Rank | Name | IRtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | vict | Res. | SB. |
| 1 | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2740 | UKR | * * | 1 | 1 | 2,0 | 2 | 0,0 | 1,50 | |||
| 2 | Cheparinov Ivan | 2695 | BUL | * * | 1 | ½ | 1,5 | 1 | 0,0 | 0,75 | |||
| 3 | Topalov Veselin | 2767 | BUL | 0 | * * | 1 | 1,0 | 1 | 0,0 | 0,50 | |||
| 4 | Radjabov Teimour | 2751 | AZE | 0 | * * | ½ | 0,5 | 0 | 0,5 | 0,25 | |||
| 5 | Bu Xiangzhi | 2708 | CHN | 0 | ½ | * * | 0,5 | 0 | 0,5 | 0,25 | |||
| 6 | Aronian Levon | 2763 | ARM | ½ | 0 | * * | 0,5 | 0 | 0,0 | 0,75 |
