Zug 2013 FIDE Grand Prix Round 2
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The second round of the Renova Group FIDE Grand Prix in Zug, Switzerland produced great entertainment and three wins for the white pieces.
Fabiano Caruana fell back to an even score after being slowly and imperceptibly outplayed by Ruslan Ponomariov in a nice game for the Ukrainian. That win puts Ponomariov into a share of the lead with Alexander Morozevich and Veselin Topalov.
Caruana lost his second round game to Ponomariov
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Morozevich drew his game with Mamedyarov
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Rustam Kasimdzhanov recovered from his opening round loss yesterday to defeat Gata Kamsky. Kamsky got into time trouble and was unable to maintain the balance in the position.
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Kamsky suffered a loss to Kasimdzhanov
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A third win for the white pieces saw Veselin Topalov defeat Peter Leko in a hard fought game.
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Topalov scored a win against Leko
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An out-of-form Teimour Radjabov stopped the rot with a draw against Sergey Karjakin.
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Saying a prayer? Radjabov needs to find his form
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Hikaru Nakamura tested Anish Giri's endgame defences
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Nakamura was easy to spot from the back view as well!
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The Zug Grand Prix standings after 2 rounds
| Name | Elo | Fed | Pts |
| Morozevich Alexander | 2758 | RUS | 1½ |
| Ponomariov Ruslan | 2733 | UKR | 1½ |
| Topalov Veselin | 2771 | BUL | 1½ |
| Caruana Fabiano | 2772 | ITA | 1 |
| Kasimdzhanov Rustam | 2709 | UZB | 1 |
| Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2766 | AZE | 1 |
| Giri Anish | 2727 | NED | 1 |
| Nakamura Hikaru | 2767 | USA | 1 |
| Karjakin Sergey | 2786 | RUS | 1 |
| Radjabov Teimour | 2793 | AZE | ½ |
| Leko Peter | 2744 | HUN | ½ |
| Kamsky Gata | 2741 | USA | ½ |
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The Zug Grand Prix runs from 17 April - 1 May, and the overall winner and runner-up of the 2012/13 Grand Prix series will qualify for the next Candidates Tournament, expected to be held in March 2014. The current standings are here.
Each tournament is a single round-robin featuring 12 out of the 18 players in the Grand Prix, and each player competes in four of the six events. The best 3 scores of each player count towards their overall score. The official regulations for the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix can be found here.
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The schedule for the 2013 Zug Grand Prix
| 17th April 2013 | Arrival & Opening Ceremony |
| 18th April 2013 | Round 1 |
| 19th April 2013 | Round 2 |
| 20th April 2013 | Round 3 |
| 21st April 2013 | Round 4 |
| 22nd April 2013 | Free Day |
| 23rd April 2013 | Round 5 |
| 24th April 2013 | Round 6 |
| 25th April 2013 | Round 7 |
| 26th April 2013 | Round 8 |
| 27th April 2013 | Free Day |
| 28th April 2013 | Round 9 |
| 29th April 2013 | Round 10 |
| 30th April 2013 | Round 11 & Closing Ceremony |
| 1st May 2013 | Departure |
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All rounds start at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) except the final round which starts 2 hours earlier. The time control used is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, then 15 minutes plus a 30 second increment after move 60.
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Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich and games from the official website.
