Gashimov eventually won his pawn back and had the bishop pair, but was unable to demonstrate any advantage. Topalov for once not playing anything risky as 'not losing' seemed to be his main preoccupation.
The game Gelfand-Grischuk led to mass exchanges and a double-rook ending, but then it came alive with an aggressive king walk by the World Cup champion. With his king in the heart of Black's position he obtained dangerous threats despite the paucity of material. Grischuk defended well enough and the point was finally shared.
Vallejo Pons managed to seize the initiative with Black and then gave up two rooks for White's queen in an attempt to exploit White's various weaknesses. The Spaniard even obtained a couple of passed pawns but by then Aronian's rooks were organized and Vallejo accepted that he was not going to win.
| Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2759 | 0.5-0.5 | Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2805 | Spanish Classical Berlin | C65 |
| Lev Aronian | ARM | 2781 | 0.5-0.5 | Francisco Vallejo Pons | ESP | 2705 | Slav Defence 4 e3 | D12 |
| Boris Gelfand | ISR | 2761 | 0.5-0.5 | Alexander Grischuk | RUS | 2736 | English Opening | A29 |
The tournament is more or less decided unless Topalov really loses his way. Rating-wise I estimate that he is about 2814, so a clear point ahead of Carlsen, but this can change over the remaining three games.
| World Ranking | Name | Country | Present Rating | Career highest rating | Pre-Linares virtual rating | Points | wins |
| 2 | Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2805 | 2813 | 2805 | 5 | 3 |
| 7 | Vugar Gashimov | AZ E | 2759 | 2759 | 2740.2 | 3.5 | 1 |
| 15 | Alexander Grischuk | RUS | 2736 | 2748 | 2756 | 3.5 | 1 |
| 5 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2781 | 2786 | 2782.3 | 3.5 | 0 |
| 6 | Boris Gelfand | ISR | 2761 | 2761 | 2750.4 | 3 | 0 |
| 31 | Francisco Vallejo Pons | ESP | 2705 | 2711 | 2708.2 | 2.5 | 0 |
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