Day two of the Bucharest stage surprised chess fans everywhere with two wins in the most anticipated matches of the round.

Romania’s representative Richard Rapport scored a win over Polish grandmaster Jan Krzysztof Duda in the longest match of the day.

After his draw with Rapport in the first round, Ian Nepomniachtchi gained a significant lead in the rankings with a win over our countryman Bogdan Deac. The Romanian player played defensively until the last move, but Nepo’s experience made the difference in this match.

Today’s results:

Richard Rapport – Jan Krzysztof Duda 1-0

Bogdan Deac – Ian Nepomniachtchi 0-1

Anish Giri – Alireza Firouzja- 1/2-1/2

Wesley So – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 1/2-1/2

Fabiano Caruana – Ding Liren- 1/2-1/2