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Round 4: All games drawn, Vachier-Lagrave maintains lead |
In the longest game of the day Maxime Vachier-Lagrave tried to convert an extra pawn against Sergey Karjakin, but there was no way through and the players settled for a tie.
With all games drawn, Vachier-Lagrave continues to lead the standings with 3 points.
Saturday 25th October is the first rest day.
Results and pairings are here, crosstable is here. Visit also the photo gallery and replay the games.
Andreikin - Kasimdzhanov 1/2-1/2
In the regular variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined white decided to open the center, but this only led to massive exchanges.
Before a contest for the open d-file could occur, the players repeated the moves and signed a draw on move 22.
Gelfand - Jakovenko 1/2-1/2
Another Queen's Gambit Declined, but this time Gelfand's favourite Bf4 line.
Black solved the opening problems relatively easy. He was quick to seize the open a-file and generate counterplay.
White could not take advantage of the e5-outpost and was forced to allow exchange of the pieces. Draw was signed on move 31.
Giri - Caruana 1/2-1/2
This game also leaned towards QGD, but Giri took it to the Catalan setup. Black was able to conveniently open the center and trade the Queens.
After further exchanges, a double rook endgame occurred on the board.
Both sides had the weak pawns, but then the queen's flank was cleared and the players agreed to draw.
Mamedyarov - Nakamura 1/2-1/2
The Exchange variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined on the board, but the two aggressive players didn't wait long before picking the fight.
A nice combination with 14.Nf4 left white with an extra pawn, still black was far from being worse.
Soon Nakamura took the pawn back, provoking Mamedyarov to sacrifice an exchange to collect the queenside pawns.
White got his pawns rolling, but black was up to the task, trading a pair of rooks and establishing counterplay to force white to accept a draw.
Jobava - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
A very entertaining Gruenfeld Indian where black offers to sacrifice two pawns to extend white's center. Jobava preferred to develop the pieces instead.
The resulting position was very interesting, with two white knights battling against two black bishops.
White established a dominant knight on d5, but black was not bothered by this as his pieces had the scope to dance around.
After the queens went off, the players agreed to a draw around the time control.
Vachier-Lagrave - Karjakin 1/2-1/2
A curious Queen's Indian game where black suddenly decided to give up a pawn to have opposite-coloured bishops on the board.
But with the queens and rooks on, there was still lots to play for. The advance of the white pawns left both kings weakened.
At one point Vachier-Lagrave missed the opportunity to win the black g7-pawn.
After lots of maneuvering, white couldn't set his passed pawns in motion and eventually conceded a draw.
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