Written and annotated by GM Alejandro Ramirez.
The first game that finished in round two was a draw between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian. The Frenchman tried to repeat a Ragozin that Topalov used against the Armenian player in Norway, but Levon was not one to be surprised. He came into round two with a good improvement by solidifying his position and making it very difficult for MVL to make any real threats. The resulting endgame was equal; White’s control of the a-file didn’t give him any advantage as Black was sufficiently active with his king. The game ended in a draw soon afterwards after only an hour and a half of play.