After the rest day...let battle recommence!

After a hard-earned rest day in Wijk aan Zee the protagonists will be crossing swords again later today.
Here is a brief summary of the pairings plus the standings and what to look out for.

The leader Alexei Shirov is playing the inconsistent Van Wely who has lost three in a row. Ivanchuk is also playing an out-of-form opponent, Nigel Short.

Nakamura meets Carlsen and the public will be hoping for fireworks.

Peter Leko	HUN	2739	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790
Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712
Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720
Jan Smeets	NED	2657	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788
Loek van Wely	NED	2641	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2723
Nigel Short	ENG	2696	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810

Here are the standings after the fourth round.

Seed	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2723	4
2=	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	3
2=	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	3
2=	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	3
5=	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790	2
5=	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788	2
5=	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720	2
5=	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712	2
9=	Peter Leko	HUN	2739	1.5
9=	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	1.5
9=	Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	1.5
12=	Nigel Short	ENG	2696	1
12=	Loek van Wely	NED	2641	1
14	Jan Smeets	NED	2657	0.5

B-Group

Ni Hua has Black against the unbeaten David Howell whereas Anish Giri faces Sutovsky who is always exciting to watch.

The other players on a plus score, Harikrishna and L'Ami both have the Black pieces.

Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615
Anish Giri	NED	2588	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2666
David Howell	ENG	2606	Ni Hua	CHN	2657
Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573
Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681
Wesley So	PHI	2656	Penteala Harikrishna	IND	2672
Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621

The leader board could change radically in this closely contested tournament. The winner qualifies for next year's A-Group

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1=	GM	Ni Hua	CHN	2657	3
1=	GM	Anish Giri	NED	2588	3
3=	GM	Penteala Harikrishna	IND	2672	2.5
3=	GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615	2.5
3=	GM	David Howell	ENG	2606	2.5
6=	GM	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	2
6=	GM	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681	2
6=	GM	Wesley So	PHI	2656	2
6=	GM	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	2
6=	GM	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	2
11=	GM	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2657	1.5
11=	IM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	1.5
13	GM	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	1
14	GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573	0.5

Group C

Li Chao has White against Van Kampen whereas Robson will have Black today against Peng.

Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323
Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495
Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	Ray Robson	USA	2570
Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577
Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515
Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547
Li Chao-b	CHN	2604	Robin van Kampen	NED	2456

The highest placed Dutch player Robin Swinkels has Black against a lower-rated countryman.

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1=	GM	Li Chao-b	CHN	2604	3.5
1=	GM	Ray Robson	USA	2570	3.5
3=	GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577	2.5
3=	GM	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	2.5
3=	IM	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495	2.5
3=	GM	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	2.5
3=	GM	Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	2.5
8	IM	Robin van Kempen	NED	2456	2
9=	IM	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515	1.5
9=	FM	Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	1.5
9=	FM	Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	1.5
12	WGM	Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	1
13=	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323	0.5
13=	-	Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	0.5

For further information official site