10 players leading with maximum points
The second round of the Essent Open saw all the Grandmasters firmly outplaying their lower rated opponents. The only exception being GM Erwin L’Ami who was held to a draw after IM Robert Ris quickly exchanged pieces straight out of the opening.
Top rated GM Evgeny Postny patiently maneuvered until FM Menno Okkes committed a mistake. Completely opposite to Postny, last year winner GM Jan Werle sacrificed a piece to demolish WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova’s Queens Gambit. GM Friso Nijboer cracked untitled Dennis Ruijgrok only after the former blundered knight fork. 1999-rated Donna Schut drew 2417 IM Thomas Willemze.
GM Evgeny Postny
Round 2 standings:
1-10. GM Evgeny Postny (ISR 2599), GM Jan Werle (NED 2568), GM Friso Nijboer (NED 2559), GM Leonid Gofshtein (ISR 2542), IM Thal Abergel (FRA 2528), GM Luc Winants (BEL 2504), IM Thorsten-Michael Haub (GER 2469), IM David Smerdon (AUS 2466), IM Amon Simutowe (ZAM 2421) and GM Zhaoqin Peng (NED 2419) 2.0 etc
Round 3 pairings:
GM Luc Winants – GM Evgeny Postny
IM Thorsten-Michael Haub – GM Jan Werle
IM David Smerdon – GM Friso Nijboer
GM Zhaoqin Peng – GM Leonid Gofshtein
IM Thal Abergel – IM Amon Simutowe
GM Erwin L’Ami – FM Migchiel De Jong
GM Jan Smeets – IM Robert Ris
