Arjun Erigaisi gains early sole lead
Round 2 witnessed only one decisive game. Thus, it allowed Arjun Erigaisi to gain an early sole lead 2.0/2. Arjun will face 55th Capablanca Memorial Elite winner, Hans Niemann (USA) in Round 3.
Arjun - Salem: 1-0
Arjun Erigaisi (2675) did not allow Salem Saleh (UAE, 2690) to play his natural game, which is to play attacking chess. Instead, he outplayed his opponent with positional play.
White gets complete control of the position after 23.Nd5. He slowly improved his position and soon trapped his opponent's knight.
The only way to get out of this was 36...Ra4 37.Bb3 Rxe4 38.Qf5. Black decided to give up an exchange 38...Rxe3 39.Rxe3 now White is completely winning.
Time Control
90 minutes for 40 moves and then 30 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move (Malmö rules-no draws before move 40).
Replay Round 2 games
Round 2 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 8 | 2695 | GM | Shirov Alexei | ½ - ½ | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | 2715 | 5 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 2698 | GM | Adams Michael | ½ - ½ | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2635 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 7 | 2682 | GM | Navara David | ½ - ½ | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | 2656 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 2675 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | 2690 | 2 |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 2690 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2695 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 2656 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2675 | 1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2635 | GM | Grandelius Nils | GM | Navara David | 2682 | 7 | |||
| 4 | 5 | 2715 | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | GM | Adams Michael | 2698 | 6 |
Schedule
3rd - 8th May - 3 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST), 7th May - 2 p.m. CET (5:30 p.m. IST).
9th May - 12 p.m. CET (3:30 p.m. IST)
