The Big Boys come out to play
A running report by Jonathan Tisdall - for the live version see our Chess Message Boards.
Round Two, Day One
With the seeded players entering the second round of the competition the FIDE KO got an added layer of class - though the world elite did not exactly make a big impression on day one.
Household names Anand, Shirov, Adams, Svidler, Short, Leko, Topalov, Ivanchuk and last year's stars Khalifman, Akopian and Nisipeanu all started their 2000 campaign with draws.
By far the most impressive Round Two debut was made by the swashbuckling Morozevich who unleashed his patented brand of whirlwind confusion and aggression to demolish Brazilian GM Milos.
Business as usual
Some of the favorites did the business, Gelfand, Bareev, Kasimdzhanov, Piket, Azmaiparashvili, van Wely, Movsesian and Tkachiev took the lead in their micro-matches.
China's Peng looks likely to be the survivor of an unfortunate pairing that must thin out Asia's presence in the event, gradually grinding down Indonesian star Adianto as black in a famously boring variation.
The USA's immigrant population must be trimmed as well, and Serper applied for the next stage by downing Alex Ivanov.
Upsets and near misses
Last year's losing finalist Akopian walked on water, saving an ending down buckets of material by producing a stalemate defence.
A few of the underdogs managed successful upsets though. The most entertaining was Lputian's vicious kingside attack which brought him Rublevsky's head at near-miniature speed. Lputian can play very attractive and inventive chess when he gets going, and he shows sign of good form so far.
Yermolinsky's win over Xu Jun was a nice blend of energy and technique, but it was hardly a major upset, more a sign of fluctuating fortunes on recent rating lists.
On the whole, not a terribly eventful day, at least when taking the sudden influx of muscle into consideration.
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