Tondivar Upsets Rogers

In round 2 of Essent last night, GM Ian Rogers lost his game to local FIDE master Babak Tondivar, rated 2367. Black in the French Defence, Tondivar's c3-pawn bursted down its file for a promotion. This forced Rogers to lose a Bishop and the Australian survived for just another 6 moves.



IM David Smerdon appears to be still missing his mojo as he once again had to settle for a draw against local Roeland Pruijssers. Smerdon's Olympiad skipper, Manuel Weeks, also posted a drawn game to his lower-rated opponent Richard Hendriks.

The standout performer among the Australians is again 14-year old Queenslander Moulthun Ly. After beating GM Ikonnikov in the first round, Ly last night drew with 2423-rated Dutchman Jeroen Willemze.



Ly's next opponent will be IM Anatoly Donchenko of Germany.

Official site. There is also extra coverage by the Doggers Schaak blog.