Quite a variety of openings today with Gashimov showing his faith in the dynamic Modern Benoni and Ponomariov again playing the solid 'Berlin Wall' in the head-to-head battles amongst the leaders.
Wang Yue played a slightly suspicious variation in my opinion, but got away with it as he managed to get enough activity for his pawn.
Game No. | Name | Rating | Result | Name | Rating | Opening |
1 | Peter Svidler | 2735 | 0.5-0.5 | Teimour Radjabov | 2740 | English opening (A16) |
2 | Peter Leko | 2735 | 0.5-0.5 | Ruslan Ponomariov | 2733 | Spanish Berlin (C67) |
3 | Vassily Ivanchuk | 2741 | 0-1 | Ernesto Inarkiev | 2669 | Caro-Kann Panov (B13) |
4 | Dmitry Jakovenko | 2725 | 0.5-0.5 | Evgeny Alekseev | 2700 | Queen's Indian (E18) |
5 | Boris Gelfand | 2741 | 0.5-0.5 | Wang Yue | 2752 | Grünfeld Schlechter (D94) |
6 | Pavel Eljanov | 2751 | 0.5-0.5 | Vugar Gashimov | 2734 | Modern Benoni (A61) |
7 | Vladimir Akopian | 2694 | 0.5-0.5 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2763 | Spanish Breyer (C95) |
Ivanchuk loses his second game (this time after over-pressing) and slips to last place.
Here are the tournament rankings after four rounds with six players sharing first place.
Ranking | Name | Country | Present Rating | Points |
1st-6th | Pavel Eljanov | Ukraine | 2751 | 2.5 |
1st-6th | Vugar Gashimov | Azerbaijan | 2734 | 2.5 |
1st-6th | Boris Gelfand | Israel | 2741 | 2.5 |
1st-6th | Ernesto Inarkiev | Russia | 2669 | 2.5 |
1st-6th | Peter Leko | Hungary | 2735 | 2.5 |
1st-6th | Ruslan Ponomariov | Ukraine | 2733 | 2.5 |
7th-9th | Dmitry Jakovenko | Russia | 2725 | 2 |
7th-9th | Teimour Radjabov | Azerbaijan | 2740 | 2 |
7th-9th | Wang Yue | China | 2752 | 2 |
10th-13th | Vladimir Akopian | Armenia | 2694 | 1.5 |
10th-13th | Evgeny Alekseev | Russia | 2700 | 1.5 |
10th-13th | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Azerbaijan | 2763 | 1.5 |
10th-13th | Peter Svidler | Russia | 2735 | 1.5 |
14th | Vassily Ivanchuk | Ukraine | 2741 | 1 |
Only six decisive games out of 28 is a very low percentage at any level.
For further information on this event, I suggest that you go to the official tournament site.