Bulgarian chess players Ivan Cheparinov and Nurgyul Salimova remain contenders after day two of the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship here on Wednesday.
In the men's chess tournament, which has 202 players compete, Cheparinov 6.5 points rank him between 4th and 16th. He is only half a point behind the three leaders, Norway's Magnus Carlsen, Slovenia's Vladimir Fedoseev and China's Yu Yangyi, who each have 7 points.
Cheparinov began the tournament with an impressive 4.5 out of possible 5 points. On day two, the Bulgarian chess player, who is ranked outside the tournament's top 20, achieved four draws against opponents, who are all ranked top 18 or higher – France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Russia's Daniil Dubov, Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov and India's Vidit Gujrathi.
Four rounds remain in the men's tournament.
Three rounds before the end of the women's chess tournament, Salimova has accumulated 6 points, which ranks her between 4th and 10th.
Salimova, who led the pack after day one, recorded two wins against Azerbaijan's Khanim Balajayeva and Kazakhstan's Zarina Nurgaliyeva and two losses against China's Zhu Jiner and Russia's Anastasia Bodnaruk on day two.
On day three, the Bulgarian will face Aleksandra Goryachkina from Russia. The two already played in the Women's Chess World Cup final on August 21, when Salimova lost by 1.5:2.5 points.
Another Bulgarian player, who can contend for the title, is Grandmaster Antoaneta Stefanova, who ranks 15th with 5.5 points after day two. The other two Bulgarian players, Nadya Toncheva and Gergana Peycheva, have 5 and 4 points respectively.
The men's rapid chess tournament has 13 rounds, while the women's tournament has 11. The prize money of the two tournaments is USD 350,000 and USD 150,000 respectively.
/NZ/
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