Shanghai Masters Update
Two more rounds of the double-round robin Shanghai Masters have seen Alexei Shirov join Lev Aronian as joint leader.
Shirov and Aronian had a thrilling encounter in round two, with plenty of "Fire on Board" to entertain the crowds in a 54-move draw. Kramnik pressed hard looking for a full point against Wang Hao, but the Chinese player held firm to score his first points.
In round three, Shirov succeeded where Kramnik had failed by defeating Wang Hao in a wild game, while Aronian managed to shut out Kramnik for a draw.
So at the halfway point the scores (using the football system) look like this:
| 1 | Aronian, Levon | ARM | 2783 | * | * | 1 | . | 1 | . | 3 | . | 5 |
| 2 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2749 | 1 | . | * | * | 1 | . | 3 | . | 5 |
| 3 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2780 | 1 | . | 1 | . | * | * | 1 | . | 3 |
| 4 | Wang Hao | CHN | 2724 | 0 | . | 0 | . | 1 | . | * | * | 1 |
The top two finishers will go forward to join Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Bilbao in October for the Grand Slam Final.
