The second round of the Fide Chess Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, Russia, saw top seed and world No 2 Fabiano Caruana earning a 34-move win against Kirill Alekseenko.
In another important result of the day, Ding Liren, who didn’t lose a single game in the previous Candidates tournament, suffered his second straight defeat as he went down to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The result leaves the Chinese Grandmaster almost out of contention for the title.
Anish Giri, who lost his first game of the tournament to Ian Nepomniachtchi on Wednesday, was in deep trouble against Wang Hao but did well to eventually earn a draw.
Corona, Nepomniachtchi, Vachier-Lagrave and Hao are in the lead at the moment. The winner of this tournament will get the opportunity to face world champion Magnus Carlsen.
Standings
| Rank | Name | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2767 | 1½/2 |
| 1-4 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2774 | 1½/2 |
| 1-4 | Wang Hao | 2762 | 1½/2 |
| 1-4 | Fabiano Caruana | 2842 | 1½/2 |
| 5 | Alexander Grischuk | 2777 | 1/2 |
| 6-7 | Anish Giri | 2763 | 0.5/2 |
| 6-7 | Kirill Alekseenko | 2698 | 0.5/2 |
| 8 | Ding Liren | 2805 | 0/2 |