With a victory over Hikaru Nakamura in the second round of the Candidates Tournament 2016, Sergey Karjakin moved on to 1.5/2, joining Viswanathan Anand on the top of the table. Karjakin’s victory over Nakamura was the only decisive result of the day as the rest of the games finished peacefully.
The Karjakin-Nakamura clash began in a sedate manner with Nakamura opting for the Queen’s Indian Defence in reply to Karjakin’s Queen’s Pawn opening. A manoeuvring phase ensued, wherein Karjakin’s position seemed slightly better than Nakamura’s. However, it was Nakamura’s faulty tactical sequence starting with 29…Nxg3?? that allowed Karjakin to gain a decisive advantage in the form of an extra Bishop. Nakamura resigned shortly on move 38.
Meanwhile, the Aronian-Anand encounter turned out to be a theoretical battle. Soon, an equal middlegame arose. In the latter part of the middlegame, Aronian sacrificed a pawn with the intention of simplifying into a Bishop endgame where the extra pawn didn’t account for much. With a lifeless endgame on the cards, the players agreed to a draw on move 31.
Round 2 Results:
| Karjakin | 1-0 | Nakamura |
| Aronian | ½-½ | Anand |
| Svidler | ½-½ | Topalov |
| Caruana | ½-½ | Giri |