Amber Round 2
You just can't keep the world's #1 rated player down. After losing 2-0 to Vassily Ivanchuk in round one at Amber, Magnus Carlsen hit back in round two against Lev Aronian to record his own 2-0 win.
That brings Carlsen back to an even score, and once again you can read his comments on the round at his blog.
It was also a good day for Boris Gelfand who also staged an identical comeback by recovering from losing 2-0 on day one to emerge a 2-0 winner on day two.
First day leaders Ivanchuk and Ponomariov (pictured) maintained their position by splitting the points against Svidler and Grischuk respectively.
The full results from day two:
| Blind | Aronian-Carlsen | 0-1 |
| Smeets-Karjakin | ½-½ | |
| Ivanchuk-Svidler | ½-½ | |
| Blind | Gelfand-Gashimov | 1-0 |
| Kramnik-Dominguez | 1-0 | |
| Ponomariov-Grischuk | ½-½ | |
| Rapid | Carlsen-Aronian | 1-0 |
| Karjakin-Smeets | ½-½ | |
| Svidler-Ivanchuk | ½-½ | |
| Rapid | Gashimov-Gelfand | 0-1 |
| Dominguez-Kramnik | ½-½ | |
| Grischuk-Ponomariov | ½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen in relaxed mood after good results in round 2. Picture from the official site.
The combined standings after two rounds:
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 3 |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 3 |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2½ |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2½ |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2 |
| Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2 |
| Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2 |
| Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2 |
| Smeets, Jan | NED | 1½ |
| Gashimov, Vugar | AZE | 1½ |
| Aronian, Levon | ARM | 1 |
| Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 1 |
