At the end of the 2nd round of the 2020 Australian Championship, 3 players share the lead with 2/2. Top seed GM Temur Kuybokarov overcame Cameron McGowan in a hard fought game, while IM Brandon Clarke beat John-Stuart Plant. IM Brodie McClymont was the third player to get to 2 points, after IM Stephen Solomon decided to sacrifice a piece, rather than defend an inferior position. However there was very little compensation for the material, and McLymont won pretty quickly.
IM Junta Ikeda and IM Igor Bjelobrk drew their game pretty quickly, and were joined on 1.5 by FM Chris Wallis and FM Jack Puccini, who both won their second round games.
Tomorrow Kuybokarov is paired against McClymont, while Clarke plays Ikeda. As a lot of pre-tournament predictions had a likely winner coming from this group of players, a win for any of these players will substantially improve their overall chances of finishing in first place.
It is a different story in the Reserves, where there are still 15 players on 2/2. This only includes 4 players seeded in the top 10, so there will be a few more rounds before the field spreads out.
Starting tomorrow is the 7 round 2020 St George Classic. This will be played in the morning, using the 60m+30s time control. 50 players have registered for this tournament, including a number who are also playing the Reserves in the afternoon!
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