Asians lead Aeroflot Open 2010

(IN PHOTO: GM Le, in red, and GM Bu)

GM Bu Xiangzhi of China (2673) and GM Le Quang Liem (2647) of Vietnam are showing to the whole world the sting of Asian chess power by posting perfect performances after Round 2 of Aeroflot Open 2010 in Moscow, Russia.

Now leading a strong field of 80 players with 2.0 points, these two Asians have erected monster-like 3352 and 3376 Total Performance Rating (TPR), respectively!!

The 25-year old Bu, ranked No.5 in Asia (January 2010), defeated GM Vladimir Belov and GM Boris Savchenko, both Russians, in Round 1 and 2, respectively.

After two rounds, the spotlight, I guess, belonged to 19-year old Le, Vietnam's Numero Uno and Asia's No.11 (January 2010). Le, with White, defeated defending champion GM Etienne Bacrot (2713) of France in Round 2 - which I think is the highest-rated player Le has ever butchered over the board.

Le is said to have benefited from the services of GM Evgeny Bareev (2643) of Russia who acted as his second,which I think is bearing good fruits lately. Bareev is also in this tournament, now with 1.5 points.

By the way, it should be remembered that when GM Magnus Carlsen got the services of former world champ Garry Kasparov, a tremendous improvement from the wonder boy of Norway ensued.

I expect to see more of Asian power in this tournament.

Let's watch their games:
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Ranking after round 2 (Thursday, 11 February 2010)

Rank	Name	Flags	Score	Fed.	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	1	2
1	GM Bu, Xiangzhi		2.0	CHN	M	2673	3352	+0.84	1	1
2	GM Le, Quang Liem		2.0	VIE	M	2647	3376	+0.98	1	1
3	GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime		1.5	FRA	M	2730	2755	+0.06	½	1
4	GM Motylev, Alexander		1.5	RUS	M	2697	2822	+0.31	1	½
5	GM Najer, Evgeniy		1.5	RUS	M	2665	2810	+0.37	1	½
6	GM Cheparinov, Ivan		1.5	BUL	M	2660	2801	+0.36	1	½
7	GM Vescovi, Giovanni		1.5	BRA	M	2660	2797	+0.34	1	½
8	GM Efimenko, Zahar		1.5	UKR	M	2657	2784	+0.32	1	½
9	GM So, Wesley		1.5	PHI	M	2656	2785	+0.32	½	1
10	GM Grachev, Boris		1.5	RUS	M	2653	2752	+0.24	1	½
11	GM Sasikiran, Krishnan		1.5	IND	M	2653	2779	+0.31	½	1
12	GM Timofeev, Artyom		1.5	RUS	M	2652	2740	+0.22	1	½
13	GM Pashikian, Arman		1.5	ARM	M	2647	2823	+0.45	1	½
14	GM Bareev, Evgeny		1.5	RUS	M	2643	2760	+0.29	½	1
15	GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim		1.5	RUS	M	2642	2753	+0.28	½	1
16	GM Van Wely, Loek		1.5	NED	M	2641	2731	+0.21	½	1
17	GM Mamedov, Rauf		1.5	AZE	M	2640	2804	+0.41	1	½
18	GM Zhou, Jianchao		1.5	CHN	M	2632	2730	+0.23	½	1
19	GM Rodshtein, Maxim		1.5	ISR	M	2622	2780	+0.40	1	½
20	GM Khalifman, Alexander		1.5	RUS	M	2616	2778	+0.42	1	½
21	GM McShane, Luke J		1.5	ENG	M	2616	2702	+0.21	½	1
22	GM Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son		1.5	VIE	M	2616	2714	+0.24	½	1
23	GM Sjugirov, Sanan		1.5	RUS	M	2610	2883	+0.72	½	1
24	GM Ehlvest, Jaan		1.5	USA	M	2600	2883	+0.75	½	1
25	GM Zhou, Weiqi		1.5	CHN	M	2600	2867	+0.70	½	1
26	GM Romanov, Evgeny		1.5	RUS	M	2599	2866	+0.71	½	1
27	GM Rakhmanov, Aleksandr		1.5	RUS	M	2591	2851	+0.68	1	½
28	GM Melkumyan, Hrant		1.5	ARM	M	2583	2845	+0.69	½	1
29	GM Grigoriants, Sergey		1.5	RUS	M	2560	2838	+0.73	½	1
30	IM Kosintseva, Nadezhda	w	1.5	RUS	F	2533	2837	+0.80	1	½
31	GM Kosintseva, Tatiana	w	1.5	RUS	F	2515	2831	+0.83	1	½
32	GM Salem, A.R. Saleh		1.5	UAE	M	2484	2815	+0.87	½	1
33	GM Bacrot, Etienne		1.0	FRA	M	2713	2629	-0.23	1	0
34	GM Volokitin, Andrei		1.0	UKR	M	2692	2609	-0.23	½	½
35	GM Sargissian, Gabriel		1.0	ARM	M	2680	2603	-0.21	½	½
36	GM Moiseenko, Alexander		1.0	UKR	M	2677	2597	-0.22	½	½
37	GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian		1.0	RUS	M	2658	2542	-0.31	0	1
38	GM Predojevic, Borki		1.0	BIH	M	2642	2567	-0.21	½	½
39	GM Savchenko, Boris		1.0	RUS	M	2638	2612	-0.07	1	0
40	GM Kobalia, Mikhail		1.0	RUS	M	2637	2554	-0.23	½	½
41	GM Iturrizaga, Eduardo		1.0	VEN	M	2616	2545	-0.19	0	1
42	GM Andriasian, Zaven		1.0	ARM	M	2613	2711	+0.27	½	½
43	GM Potkin, Vladimir		1.0	RUS	M	2611	2641	+0.08	0	1
44	GM Shabalov, Alexander		1.0	USA	M	2611	2630	+0.05	0	1
45	GM Khairullin, Ildar		1.0	RUS	M	2605	2686	+0.22	½	½
46	GM Lenic, Luka		1.0	SLO	M	2595	2673	+0.21	½	½
47	GM Safarli, Eltaj		1.0	AZE	M	2594	2611	+0.05	0	1
48	GM Yudin, Sergei		1.0	RUS	M	2573	2645	+0.20	½	½
49	GM Shomoev, Anton		1.0	RUS	M	2559	2640	+0.22	½	½
50	GM Khusnutdinov, Rustam		1.0	KAZ	M	2513	2608	+0.26	0	1
51	IM Krylov, Mikhail		1.0	RUS	M	2511	2673	+0.42	1	0
52	GM Kamsky, Gata		0.5	USA	M	2693	2412	-0.74	½	0
53	GM Naiditsch, Arkadij		0.5	GER	M	2687	2412	-0.73	½	0
54	GM Smirin, Ilia		0.5	ISR	M	2668	2404	-0.70	½	0
55	GM Zhigalko, Sergei		0.5	BLR	M	2668	2404	-0.69	½	0
56	GM Dreev, Alexey		0.5	RUS	M	2650	2385	-0.70	½	0
57	GM Korobov, Anton		0.5	UKR	M	2648	2374	-0.72	½	0
58	GM Amonatov, Farrukh		0.5	TJK	M	2634	2369	-0.70	0	½
59	GM Tregubov, Pavel V.		0.5	RUS	M	2628	2309	-0.84	½	0
60	GM Volkov, Sergey		0.5	RUS	M	2623	2357	-0.70	0	½
61	GM Belov, Vladimir		0.5	RUS	M	2595	2419	-0.45	0	½
62	GM Bocharov, Dmitry		0.5	RUS	M	2594	2469	-0.31	½	0
63	GM Maletin, Pavel		0.5	RUS	M	2591	2392	-0.51	0	½
64	GM Hou, Yifan	w	0.5	CHN	F	2590	2453	-0.35	0	½
65	GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan		0.5	IRI	M	2589	2462	-0.32	½	0
66	GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan		0.5	ESP	M	2584	2445	-0.35	0	½
67	GM Svetushkin, Dmitry		0.5	MDA	M	2573	2454	-0.29	½	0
68	GM Morovic Fernandez, Ivan		0.5	CHI	M	2561	2450	-0.28	½	0
69	GM Novikov, Stanislav		0.5	RUS	M	2557	2436	-0.30	½	0
70	GM Iljushin, Alexei		0.5	RUS	M	2551	2424	-0.32	0	½
71	IM Papin, Vasily		0.5	RUS	M	2548	2442	-0.26	½	0
72	GM Ajrapetjan, Yuriy		0.5	UKR	M	2525	2431	-0.23	½	0
73	IM Danin, Alexandre		0.5	RUS	M	2519	2442	-0.18	½	0
74	GM Sebag, Marie	w	0.5	FRA	F	2510	2411	-0.25	0	½
75	IM Javakhishvili, Lela	w	0.5	GEO	F	2493	2444	-0.11	½	0
76	GM Lopez Martinez, Josep Manu		0.0	ESP	M	2593	1852	-1.02	0	0
77	GM Feller, Sebastien		0.0	FRA	M	2579	1899	-0.85	0	0
78	GM Ragger, Markus		0.0	AUT	M	2568	1894	-0.83	0	0
79	GM Vazquez Igarza, Renier		0.0	ESP	M	2563	1894	-0.81	0	0
80	GM Laylo, Darwin		0.0	PHI	M	2556	1882	-0.83	0	0

PGNs:

[Event "Aeroflot Open"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2010.02.09"]
[EventDate "2010.02.09"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Vl Belov"]
[Black "Bu Xiangzhi"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2595"]
[BlackElo "2673"]
[PlyCount "86"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6
8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. Re1 Re8 14.
Bf4 dxc4 15. Bxc4 Bd6 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. Ng5 Bg6 18. Bxd6 cxd6 19. h4 Qe7
20. h5 Qxg5 21. hxg6 Qxg6 22. Bd3 Qg5 23. Qb1 b6 24. Bxh7+ Kf8 25. Be4 Rc8
26. Qd3 Ne7 27. c4 g6 28. g3 Kg7 29. a4 Ng8 30. Bb7 Rc7 31. Bf3 Nf6 32. a5
bxa5 33. Kg2 Nd7 34. Qc3 Qf6 35. Qxa5 Rxc4 36. Qxa7 Nf8 37. Qb8 Rc3 38. Qb7
Ne6 39. Ra7 Ng5 40. Bd1 Qxd4 41. Be2 Rc2 42. Kf1 Rb2 43. Qc7 Rb1+ 0-1

[Event "Aeroflot Open"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2010.02.10"]
[EventDate "2010.02.09"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Bu Xiangzhi"]
[Black "B Savchenko"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2673"]
[BlackElo "2638"]
[PlyCount "74"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxe7 Nxe7 6. Nbd2 Qa5 7. e3 O-O
8. Qc2 c5 9. cxd5 cxd4 10. dxe6 Bxe6 11. Nxd4 Nbc6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bc4
Nd5 14. O-O Ne5 15. Qe4 Nf6 16. Bxe6+ Kh8 17. Nc4 Nxc4 18. Qxc4 Rae8 19.
Rad1 Qe5 20. Bd5 Nxd5 21. Rxd5 Qxb2 22. Rb5 Qf6 23. Rxb7 a5 24. Rc7 Rd8 25.
h3 Rd2 26. Rc8 h6 27. Rxf8+ Qxf8 28. a4 Rb2 29. Qd5 Qb4 30. Rc1 Qf8 31. f4
Qe8 32. Kh2 Kh7 33. Rc6 Rb8 34. Qf5+ Kh8 35. Re6 Qxa4 36. Qe5 Qb3 37. Rg6
1-0

[Event "Aeroflot Open"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2010.02.09"]
[EventDate "2010.02.09"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "M Ragger"]
[Black "Le Quang Liem"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "2568"]
[BlackElo "2647"]
[PlyCount "66"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Bg7 7. d4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Bd7 9. Nb3 a5 10. c5 a4 11. Nd2 dxc5 12. Nxa4 Qa5 13. b3 Be6 14. Bb2
O-O 15. Qc1 Rac8 16. Qc3 Qb5 17. e3 Nb4 18. Nc4 Nh5 19. Qd2 Bxc4 20. Bxg7
Rfd8 21. Qc3 Bxf1 22. Bxf1 Qc6 23. Bh6 Qf6 24. Qxf6 Nxf6 25. a3 Nd3 26. Be2
b5 27. Nc3 b4 28. axb4 cxb4 29. Nb5 Rc1+ 30. Rxc1 Nxc1 31. Bc4 Ng4 32. Bg5
Rd1+ 33. Kg2 Rd2 0-1

[Event "Aeroflot Open"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2010.02.10"]
[EventDate "2010.02.09"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Le Quang Liem"]
[Black "E Bacrot"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2647"]
[BlackElo "2713"]
[PlyCount "110"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. b3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8.
Qxf3 e5 9. dxe5 Bb4 10. Bd2 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Ne4 12. Bb4 bxc4 13. Qg4 c5 14.
f3 cxb4 15. fxe4 O-O 16. exd5 Nd7 17. Qd4 cxb3 18. axb3 Qg5 19. Qf4 Qg6 20.
Rd1 Qc2 21. Bc4 Qc3+ 22. Ke2 Nxe5 23. d6 Rad8 24. Rd5 Rfe8 25. Rhd1 h6 26.
Qd4 Qc2+ 27. Rd2 Qf5 28. Rc5 Qg5 29. Kd1 Qf6 30. Bxa6 Re6 31. Rc8 Rxc8 32.
Bxc8 Qf1+ 33. Kc2 Re8 34. d7 Nxd7 35. Bxd7 Ra8 36. Qxb4 Ra2+ 37. Kc3 Qe1
38. Kd3 Ra1 39. Qb8+ Kh7 40. Qf4 Qb1+ 41. Kc3 Qc1+ 42. Rc2 Qe1+ 43. Kc4 Kg8
44. Qe4 Qa5 45. b4 Qa6+ 46. Bb5 Qf6 47. Qd4 Qe6+ 48. Kc3 Re1 49. Be2 Qc6+
50. Bc4 Qa4 51. Qd8+ Kh7 52. Qd3+ Kg8 53. Ra2 Qc6 54. b5 Qf6+ 55. Kb3 1-0