Kamsky Leads Topalov In Kazan

On the second day of the quarter-final Candidates matches in Kazan, Gata Kamsky scored a vital win with the black pieces against his adversary Veselin Topalov.

Topalov opened with 1. Nf3 and the game developed into a Grunfeld where the Bulgarian choose the rare 5. Qb3.

Kamsky responded well to the complications of his opponent's home preparation and the game turned in his favour, with Topalov's threatened kingside attack never really materialising.  Instead, it was Kamsky's pieces that swarmed around Topalov's king and forced the win!

Lev Aronian accepted an isolated pawn in the Queen's Gambit Declined, but gained active pieces as compensation and accurate play from both players led to a draw.

Mamedyarov decided to try something a little more solid than the Grunfeld defence leaving Gelfand to apply sustained pressure but all to no avail as a draw was agreed once the time control was reached at move 40.

In the last game to finish Radjabov avoided his beloved King's Indian Defence, and surprisingly allowed Kramnik to play the Catalan instead. Vladimir Kramnik nursed a small plus for 59 moves, but it failed to prove a sufficient advantage for victory.

So, Kamsky's win is the only decisive game so far after 2 days!  The third games of the opening matches are tomorrow at 15:00 local time (11:00 UTC, 07:00 Eastern in the US).

Live coverage and more is available at the official website, and live video of the playing hall is available here (also available for replay).

UPDATE: Chess.com/TV will be covering the 4th game of the 1st round on Sunday, May 8th, starting at 5:30 AM Pacific/8:30 AM Eastern time. It will most likely be the first broadcast of several as the tournament goes on. The first broadcast, which is open to Platinum/Diamond members, will be hosted by GM Melik Khachiyan and Jason "The Poet" Stoneking.