Kovalyov Advances Again!

Canadian GM Anton Kovalyov won his second round match at the World Cup in Baku, defeating former Argentine teammate GM Sandro Mareco: 1.5 - 0.5. 

After pressing as Black in an endgame with B vs N, Kovalyov won the second game by sacrificing three pieces for a Queen, but his opponent was unable to coordinate his minor pieces and Anton broke open the center to create piece-winning tactics on both sides of the board.

In round 1 Anton scored an upset win over former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, winning the second 5 + 3 blitz playoff game after seven straight draws.

In round 3 (Sept 17-19, 2015) Anton plays the #3 seed GM Fabiano Caruana, who defeated Rauf Mamedov (#67) 1.5 - 0.5.

Other players advancing include: Topalov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Wesley So, and the always-surprising Julio Granda Zuniga.

Games start at 6am EST, and can be followed live from the event website:
http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/content/5

World Cup: 

128 players compete in two game knock-out matches -- followed (if necessary) by a day of rapid tiebreaks -- with the two finalists qualifying for the Candidates tournament, the winner of which plays Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship.

Time Control: 40/90 + G/30 + 30s from move 1. Tiebreak TC gets shorter with each inconclusive pair of games: starting with G/25 + 10s, then 10 + 10, 5 + 3, finally and ending with a single armageddon game where White has five minutes to four but must win.