Superbet Chess Classic: Deac and MVL score bounce-back wins

The second round of the Superbet Chess Classic saw Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (pictured) and Bogdan-Daniel Deac bouncing back from first-round losses with victories over Wesley So and Levon Aronian, respectively. Vachier-Lagrave converted a very slightly favourable rook and knight endgame, while Deac prevailed in a long battle out of a Nimzo-Indian Defence. Alireza Firouzja is now the sole leader with 1½ points after drawing a tense, 55-move encounter against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. | Photo: Lennart Ootes