| Age | Name | Country | Present Rating | Career Highest rating | Actual World ranking | Grand Prix Ranking |
| 41 | Boris Gelfand | Israel | 2741 | 2761 (Jan 2010) | 11 | 9 |
| 41 | Vassily Ivanchuk | Ukraine | 2741 | 2787 (Oct 2007) | 12 | 8 |
| 38 | Vladimir Akopian | Armenia | 2694 | 2713 (July 2006) | 43 | 17 |
| 33 | Peter Svidler | Russia | 2735 | 2765 (Jan 2006) | 15 | 13 |
| 30 | Peter Leko | Hungary | 2735 | 2763 (July 2005) | 6 | 16 |
| 27 | Pavel Eljanov | Ukraine | 2751 | Present | 9 | 19 |
| 26 | Dmitry Jakovenko | Russia | 2725 | 2760 (Jan 2009) | 21 | 7 |
| 26 | Ruslan Ponomariov | Ukraine | 2733 | 2743 (Apr 2002) | 18 | - |
| 25 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Azerbaijan | 2763 | Present | 6 | 10 |
| 24 | Evgeny Alekseev | Russia | 2700 | 2725 (Sep 2009) | 37 | 15 |
| 24 | Ernesto Inarkiev | Russia | 2669 | 2684 (Apr 2008) | 61 | 20 |
| 23 | Vugar Gashimov | Azerbaijan | 2734 | 2759 (Jan 2010) | 17 | 5 |
| 23 | Teimour Radjabov | Azerbaijan | 2740 | 2761 (Jan 2009) | 13 | 2 |
| 23 | Wang Yue | China | 2752 | Present | 8 | 4 |
The players are listed above in order of seniority.
Although Mamedyarov is the highest ranked at present, in career terms Ivanchuk is the player who has achieved the highest Elo rating of the field.
Three players: Eljanov, Mamedyarov and Wang Yue have at present their career highest Elo-rating.
The second round results were as follows. Because of the nature of the drawing of lots, one player starts with a double White (Eljanov) and one with a double Black (Ponomariov).
| Game No. | Name | Rating | Result | Name | Rating | Opening |
| 1 | Svidler Peter | 2735 | 0-1 | Ponomariov Ruslan | 2733 | Spanish Berlin (C67) |
| 2 | Radjabov Teimour | 2740 | 0.5-0.5 | Inarkiev Ernesto | 2669 | Scotch opening (C45) |
| 3 | Leko Peter | 2735 | 1-0 | Alekseev Evgeny | 2700 | Modern Benoni (A65) |
| 4 | Ivanchuk Vassily | 2741 | 0.5-0.5 | Wang Yue | 2752 | 1.Nc3 (B01) |
| 5 | Jakovenko Dmitry | 2725 | 0.5-0.5 | Gashimov Vugar | 2734 | Modern Benoni (A67) |
| 6 | Gelfand Boris | 2741 | 1-0 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2763 | Neo-Grünfeld (D74) |
| 7 | Eljanov Pavel | 2751 | 1-0 | Akopian Vladimir | 2694 | Semi-Slav (D46) |
It's rare to see two Modern Benonis in the same round at this level, but even more seldom played is 1.Nc3 as essayed by Ivanchuk!
Five players lead with 1.5/2, these are the four winners from round two plus Gashimov.
Ponomariov beat Svidler with Black, a notable result as he is due the white pieces tomorrow.
For more information on the event official tournament site
