2012 Ryde-Eastwood - Day 2

As stated previously, the Ryde Eastwood weekender has an odd schedule. On the first day there are 3 rounds, while on the second and third days there are only 2 rounds. The reason for having only 2 rounds on the second day is to avoid a clash with the NRL Grand Final, which is held on the evening of the second day. While this does make some sense (there would be an awful lot of players taking byes if there was an evening round), finishing in mid afternoon still feels strange in the middle of a multi day tournament.
So at the end of 5 rounds there is only one player left on a perfect score. Armen Avayzyan benefited from a slight quirk in the pairing system, downfloating to Fady Gerges in round 5, while the other two players on 4/4, Max Illingworth and Igor Bjelobrk played an exciting draw on the top board. Of course to get to 4/4, Avayzyan did have to upset FM Junta Ikeda in the 4th round. This wasn't the only upset of the day, with Rodolfo Cristobal beating IM Andrew Brown and Donato Mallari inflicting a second loss for the day on Ikeda.
Going into the final day, Avayzyan plays Bjelobrk in the 6th round, while Illingworth plays Cristobal and Xie plays Mallari. A win for Bjelobrk throws the tournament wide open, while Avayzyan is hoping that another win will be enough to wrap up the event.