Updates from South Africa and Philadelphia

I've been keeping an eye on the tournaments in South Africa (Commonwealth Championship) and Philadelphia (World Open).
The news from Philadelphia is that Junta Ikeda and Moulthun Ly are doing well in the World Open. After a shared 4th place in the Philadelphia International, they are both in the top half of the World Open (7 day schedule). Ly is on 2.5/4 while Ikeda is on 2/4, having beaten GM Gildardo Garcia in round 4. Of course the standings are about to change dramatically as the 16 players in the 7 day schedule get swamped by the 77 players in the 5 day schedule (including Kamsky, Adams, Bluvshtein etc)
In the Commonwealth Championships, GM David Smerdon is on 7/9. While this is the kind of score that would win most 9 round events, he is only tied for 7th, due to the huge size of the field. The good news is that there are still 2 rounds to play, and so he still has a chance to improve his final standing.