The second leg of the Grand Chess Tour, Your Next Move, wrapped up today in Leuven with a complete domination by Magnus Carlsen. The World Champion earned thirteen tour points (one bonus point for winning clear first) and $37,500 for his efforts. He is now leading the tour with twenty-five points. The next stop will be the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis from August 2-12, followed by the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz.
Today was all about Magnus Carlsen who completely annihilated the field scoring 7.5/9 in blitz play, half a point more than his impressive score in the rapid in Paris. He is now tied for first place with Wesley So who had a very shaky day. Their last round meeting tomorrow will most likely decide the winner of the event. MaximeVachier-Lagrave started the day in clear second place but faltered towards the end and is now in third place.
Wesley So emerged as the winner of the rapid portion of Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour. He is now headed to the blitz portion with a two point lead over the rest of the field. In the blitz, each win is worth one point, so his competitors are two wins away from catching him.
After day two of the rapid, Wesley So increased his lead by a point. He is being closely chased by Magnus Carlsen and MaximeVachier-Lagrave who are one move away from catching the leader.
After the grueling first leg of the Grand Chess Tour in Paris, which concluded just two days ago, Magnus Carlsen, MaximeVachier-Lagrave and Wesley So continued on to Leuven, Belgium to play in the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour. They are joined by ViswanathanAnand, LevonAronian, Ian Nepomniachtchi who skipped Paris and are just starting the tour.
After nine more blitz games, the Leuven leg of the Grand Chess Tour came to an end. World Champion Magnus Carlsen started the day with a lead over the rest of the field and had no trouble sealing the deal with three rounds to go.
