Group A
Unlike yesterday, nobody managed to win with Black, but there were two white wins and five draws in round 4.
However despite the large number of halved points there were many entertaining games.
Shirov had a new idea up his sleeve against the Petroff and this led to some middlegame pressure. Later a piece sacrifice (for all the kingside pawns) fatally opened up Black's king. Another stylish Shirov victory.
Ivanchuk and Van Wely indulged in a sharp Najdorf where the Dutchman sacrificed the exchange in the complications. Ivanchuk was able to successfully defend his own king whilst building up an attack against the Dutchman's.
Karjakin-Caruana and Dominguez-Leko both featured the Spanish and led to draws, but weren't exactly in the same style. The first was a dull exchange variation whereas the latter was a delightful Marshall gambit with a plethora of sacrifices coming from the Cuban to force a perpetual check.
Nigel Short played in something of an eccentric manner in his game against Carlsen but everything seemed to hang together to earn him half the spoils.
Nakamura played a Leningrad set-up against which Anand ventured an early b4. The tense middlegame seemed to give White a pull but Nakamura reacted actively and was able to engineer lively play that led to mass simplification.
Kramnik-Tiviakov was mysterious in that an isolated queen's pawn position seemed to go badly wrong for Kramnik, so much so that Tiviakov won a pawn. Any Kramnik 'compensation' didn't seem particularly concrete at first sight but he soon managed to land a nice combination. The complications that followed were exciting before they led to an equal endgame.
Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 0.5-0.5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | A81 | Leningrad Dutch (early b4) |
Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | 0.5-0.5 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | B01 | Scandinavian with 2...Nf6 |
Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 1-0 | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | B96 | Sicilian Najdorf |
Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 1-0 | Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | 0.5-0.5 | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | E21 | Nimzo indian with e3 |
Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 0.5-0.5 | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | C69 | Spanish Exchange |
Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 0.5-0.5 | Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | C89 | Spanish Marshall |
Here are the standings after the fourth round.
Ivanchuk joins Carlsen and Nakamura in second place but already a whole point behind the runaway leader.
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
The leaders drew in their individual encounter and are now just ahead of three of today's winners Harikrishna, L'Ami and Howell.
Reinderman and Akobian are struggling somewhat.
Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 1-0 | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | D34 | Queen's Gambit Tarrasch |
Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | 0.5-0.5 | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | B43 | Sicilian Paulsen |
Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 1-0 | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | A08 | Reti's opening |
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 0.5-0.5 | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | B33 | Sicilian Sveshnikov |
Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | 0-1 | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | A20 | English Opening |
Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 0.5-0.5 | Anish Giri | NED | 2588) | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2666 | 0-1 | Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | C92 | Spanish Zaitsev |
It's still early days and this is the closest of the three tournaments with the top 12 only separated by 1.5 points.
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 and Robson continue to dominate the C-Group in a day with six decisive games.
Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 0-1 | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | B67 | Sicilian Richter-Rauzer |
Robin van Kampen | NED | 2456 | 1-0 | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | C41 | Philidor's Defence |
Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 1-0 | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | A10 | English Opening |
Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 0-1 | Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | A16 | English Opening |
Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | 0.5-0.5 | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | D10 | Slav Defence |
Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 1-0 | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | B33 | Sicilian Sveshnikov |
Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 1-0 | Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | A04 | Reti v Dutch |
Swinkels is the best placed of those players who are seeking a GM-norm.
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 |
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