Topalov Wins A Brilliancy In Shamkir
Pavel Eljanov won his second game in a row to start The Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir in clear first place after two rounds, but the main story of the day was Veselin Topalov's beautiful win as Black against Radek Wojtaszek in which a rook sacrifice lead to an attack against White's centralized king.
Photo courtesy of the official site.
Topalov's 2016 was remarkably up and down as he nearly won the Sinquefield Cup with Wesley So before finishing with a dismal 2/9 in the London Chess Classic. Some internet commenters even stunningly mused that Topalov's career might be nearly over after that. Today Topalov presented excellent chess with an opening novelty, enterprising play as Black, and a beautiful sacrifice.
As the commentator, GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic said, somebody always has to help to make a brilliancy. Wojtaszek was a good sport about his role in the partnership today. Photo courtesy of the official site.
The tournament leader in Shamkir, Pavel Eljanov, has earned both of his points with fine endgame play: his specialty. Today his opponent, Pentala Harikrishna, selected an aggressive opening setup, sending "Harry the h-pawn" forward, and castling queenside. It looked quite interesting, but when Eljanov offered to trade queens, he surprisingly acquiesced. The position remained sharp, but from then on, it was Eljanov who was the aggressor and the eventual victor in an opposite-color bishop endgame.
Eljanov achieved two convincing victories to start the tournament. Photo courtesy of the official site.
Sergey Karjakin unleashed a nice novelty as Black against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. It was sufficient for a nice perpetual check, a fine sporting achievement for Karjakin.
Both Michael Adams vs So and Vladimir Kramnik vs Radjabov saw the white players achieving some chances but unable to win against sturdy defense.
Standings After Round Two
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Eljanov,Pavel | 2751 | 3532 | 1 | 1 | 2.0/2 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar | 2772 | 2993 | ½ | 1 | 1.5/2 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 3 | Topalov,Veselin | 2741 | 2943 | ½ | 1 | 1.5/2 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 4 | Karjakin,Sergey | 2783 | 2764 | ½ | ½ | 1.0/2 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 5 | Adams,Michael | 2761 | 2781 | ½ | ½ | 1.0/2 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 6 | Kramnik,Vladimir | 2811 | 2728 | ½ | ½ | 1.0/2 | 0.50 | |||||||||
| 7 | So,Wesley | 2822 | 2576 | 0 | ½ | 0.5/2 | 0.50 | |||||||||
| 8 | Harikrishna,Pentala | 2755 | 2577 | 0 | ½ | 0.5/2 | 0.50 | |||||||||
| 9 | Wojtaszek,Radoslaw | 2745 | 2586 | 0 | ½ | 0.5/2 | 0.50 | |||||||||
| 10 | Radjabov,Teimour | 2710 | 2591 | 0 | ½ | 0.5/2 | 0.50 |
Games from TWIC.
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