2018 NSW Open - Day 2

IM Junta Ikeda is the outright leader of the 2018 NSW Open, finishing day 2 on a perfect 5/5. Along the way he scored two impressive victories, beating WGM Jilin Zhang in round 4, and GM Anton Smirnov in round 5. His game against Zhang involved R+N v R+P with Zhang walking into a surprise mate when most spectators assumed the game would be drawn.  Against Smirnov he found a line where he exchanged 2 rooks for a quen, but the exposed nature of Smirnov's king allowed his Queen and Knight to carry out a winning attack.
GM Max Illingworth and FM Raymond Song share second on 4.5, after they drew their evening game. As a result Song will face Ikeda in round 6, while Illingworth and Smirnov will meet on board 2.
In the Minor event, Gary Armstrong, Frank Low and Thai Pahn share the lead on 4.5, with Armstrong and Low drawing their round 5 game.
Round 6 will begin at 9:30 am tomorrow, with the final round at 2. If you are in Sydney, feel free to drop into the Russian Club in Strathfield to catch the last day action.

Smirnov, Anton - Ikeda, Junta
2018 NSW Open (5.1) 10.06.2018

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bd7 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 a5 8. Nd2 Bc6 9. Nc4 Qc7 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Na3 Be7 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Be2 Nb6 14. Ncb5 Bxb5 15. Nxb5 Qc6 16. Qc3 d5 17. Qxe5 Bb4+ 18. c3 Nc4 19. Bxc4 Qxc4 20. a4 dxe4 21. cxb4 exf3 22. gxf3 Rfe8 23. Qd4 Rxe3+ 24. Qxe3 Re8 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. bxa5 Qb4+ 27. Ke2 Qxb2+ 28. Kd3 Qb3+ 29. Nc3 Nd6 30. Rab1 Qe6 31. Rhe1 Qf5+ 32. Kd4 Qxf3 33. Nb5 Nf5+ 34. Kc5 Qf2+ 35. Kc4 g6 36. h3 Qd2 37. Nc3 Qd4+ 38. Kb3 Ne3 39. Rbc1 Qc4+ 40. Ka3 Qc5+ 41. Ka2 Nc4 42. Re2 Qb4 43. h4 Kg7 44. h5 g5 45. Rg2 Kh6 46. Rf2 Kxh5 47. Rcc2 Kg6 48. Rf3 f5 49. Rd3 g4 50. Re2 h5 51. Nd5 Qxa4+ 52. Kb1 Kg5 53. Re7 Qb5+ 54. Kc2 Qb2+ 55. Kd1 Qb1+ 0-1