Round 2 results:
| Aronian, Levon | – Akopian, Vladimir | 1-0 | |||
| Svidler, Peter | – Ivanchuk, Vassily | 1-0 | |||
| Eljanov, Pavel | – Grischuk, Alexander | ½-½ | |||
| Kamsky, Gata | – Bacrot, Etienne | ½-½ | |||
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | – Karjakin, Sergey | ½-½ | |||
| Leko, Peter | – Mamedyarov, Shak | ½-½ | |||
| Gelfand, Boris | – Alekseev, Evgeny | ½-½ |
Standings after 2 rounds:
| 1. | Aronian, Levon | g | ARM | 2754 | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | . | 1 | 2 | |
| 2. | Grischuk, Alexander | g | RUS | 2748 | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | . | 1½ | |
| 3. | Svidler, Peter | g | RUS | 2726 | . | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | 1½ | |
| 4. | Eljanov, Pavel | g | UKR | 2693 | . | ½ | . | * | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | |
| 5. | Alekseev, Evgeny | g | RUS | 2716 | . | . | ½ | . | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | 1 | |
| 6. | Kamsky, Gata | g | USA | 2720 | . | . | . | . | . | * | . | ½ | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | 1 | |
| 7. | Karjakin, Sergey | g | UKR | 2721 | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | |
| 8. | Bacrot, Etienne | g | FRA | 2728 | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | 1 | |
| 9. | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | g | UZB | 2695 | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | 1 | |
| 10. | Leko, Peter | g | HUN | 2751 | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | * | . | . | . | ½ | 1 | |
| 11. | Akopian, Vladimir | g | ARM | 2696 | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | . | . | . | ½ | |
| 12. | Gelfand, Boris | g | ISR | 2733 | . | 0 | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | . | . | ½ | |
| 13. | Ivanchuk, Vassily | g | UKR | 2746 | . | . | 0 | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | * | . | ½ | |
| 14. | Mamedyarov, Shak | g | AZE | 2725 | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | * | ½ |
Official website: http://www.nalchik2009.fide.com
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Nice picture of Aronian. He is clean shaven and well dressed. The filthy chess hobo Fischer look doesn’t suit Mr. Aronian very well.
I’m sure that Aronian will be World Champion by the end of this year.
“I’m sure that Aronian will be World Champion by the end of this year.”
You don’t know much about chess, do you?
He can’t become world champion earlier than 2011.
“I’m sure that Aronian will be World Champion by the end of this year.”
he is my second favorite player but thats a tall order unless a couple players kick the bucket
Aronian can win slam-bang slugfests, but he also seems to have this Capablanca-like ability to take nothing, ability dead-even positions, and grind out victories in which you can never see the moment at which the other guy went wrong. Is the latter ability because he has exceptionally calculating ability, or more a matter of intuitive positional sense? Either way, there is something mysterious and magical about the talent.
@Anonymous 10:56PM: If your comment refers to his game against Akopian, I think at the start the endgame wasn’t dead even but already somewhat favorable (though maybe not more than +=). And while it is not clear where _exactly_ black went wrong, it is rather obvious that he played too passively all along.
Nice game anyway, and to answer your question: IMO it must be mostly intuitive positional sense, I don’t think such an ending can be won simply through calculation (unlike pawn endings).
@Anon 2:42PM: Maybe he can be(come) blitz WCh by the end of this year … .