After the second day of the World Rapid Championship in St. Petersburg seven players are tied for first place. Despite losing one more game, Magnus Carlsen is among the players trailing by half a point together with e.g. reigning champion Vishy Anand.
“One point behind? It’s so undeserved that it’s not even funny,” said Carlsen to Norwegian TV channel NRK after the ninth round, when he heard that he was only a point behind the leaders. A round later, it was only half a point.
As always, Carlsen was the first to admit that he hasn’t been playing well—also on day two.
After a smooth win against Ivan Salgado Lopez, Carlsen returned to the struggling form he showed on Wednesday and lost to 35-year-old GM Alexander Zubov of Ukraine.
Zubov told Chess.com that this is the strongest tournament in his career. He didn’t not set himself any objectives here and only wishes to “have some fun.”
