Added on 3/2/2022
Three decisive games today in the second round of the pools, and we already have two clear leaders! In Pool A huge win by the American GM Sam Shankland, who catch Andreikin in the lead with 1.5/2, as the Russian was held to a draw by the Frenchman Bacrot.
It's weird to see the great Alexander Grischuk with zero points after two rounds, but the Russian is a resourceful player, and he will bounce back.
Pool A 1 2 3 4 PTS Grischuk aa 0 0 0.0 Shankland 1 aa 1/2 1.5 Andreikin 1 aa 1/2 1.5 Bacrot 1/2 1/2 aa 1.0In Pool B, Anish Giri won again, defeating Nikita Vitiugov today. Anish is the clear favorite in his pool, and he's respecting the prediction so far.
Harikrishna and Tabatabaei drew.
Pool B 1 2 3 4 PTS Giri aa 1 1 2.0 Harikrishna aa 0 1/2 0.5 Vitiugov 0 1 aa 1.0 Tabatabaei 0 1/2 aa 0.5
In Pool C, Vidit defeated Fedoseev, and now he leads with a full score: 2.0/2.
Shirov held the strong Hungarian GM Richard Rapport to a draw.
Pool C 1 2 3 4 PTS Rapport aa 1/2 1/2 1.0 Fedoseev 1/2 aa 0 0.5 Vidit 1 aa 1 2.0 Shirov 1/2 0 aa 0.5
In Pool D, today again two draws. It looks like GM Burke was right, defining this pool as the "hardest" for the players.
Pool D 1 2 3 4 PTS Mamedyarov aa 1/2 1/2 1.0 Yu Yangyi 1/2 aa 1/2 1.0 Vachier-Lagrave 1/2 aa 1/2 1.0 Predke 1/2 1/2 aa 1.0Tomorrow Round 3 of the double round-robin tournament, which will determine the semifinalists. Play starts at 9 AM EST - 15:00 Belgrade (CET) - 14:00 UTC.