GM Mikhail Golubev  annotates games

Round 4

Dominguez - Karjakin

In the 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 line (a kind of the English Attack) of the Sicilian Najdorf, White made a bit unusual move 11.Nd5 instead of the mainstream move 11.g4. After Karjakin's novelty 15...Bd8!? a complex position with mutual chances emerged. Unexpectedly, opponents agreed for a draw after White's 18th move.

0.5-0.5

Shirov - Svidler

In the Roy Lopez Anti-Marshall Black made a new move 14...d5 (instead of 14...Nxg5 15.Bxg5 h6 Anand-Leko, Monaco blindfold 2005) and equalised. Instead of 15...Bf8, an immediate 15...Nc5!? deserved attention as well. Shirov's move 20.Bd2 looks somewhat passive. After 23...g6! Black certainly had some advantage. Possibly, afterwards he should have played more energetically in the centre, and less energetically on the queenside. The game ended in a draw by the repetition of moves.

0.5-0.5

Rublevsky - Nisipeanu

Rublevsky repeated the closed line with 3.e5 against the Caro-Kann, which he played against Svidler in the second round. Nisipeanu deviated from that game on the 7th move. After 12.Bb4 White's position looked slightly better. Later Black could try to defend passively by 21...Qxb4 22.cxb4 Nc7. Instead, he opted for 21...Qc6 and allowed the dangerous breakthrough 22.c4. A strong move 25.Ba6! fixed White's advantage. After the long struggle Black escaped for a draw. He was even a bit better after 55.a6?!.

0.5-0.5

Eljanov - Sasikiran

White made a new move 12.Bd3 in the Gruenfeld Defence (his previous move 11.Qc1 is already less popular than the main line with 11.Rc1). Possibly, 12...exd4 13.cxd4 Qd6 can be checked. After Sasikiran's 12...Rfc8 White got slightly the better position. As it seems White made some inaccuracy in the endgame and allowed Black to equalise.

0.5-0.5

Ivanchuk - Onischuk

White introduced a novelty 11.Rb1 in the Catalan Opening, but failed to get an advantage. A draw was agreed after 18.f4 when Black possibly was even marginally better (18...Nd3 19.Qxc4 Qc5+). Ivanchuk spent some five minutes for the entire game.

0.5-0.5

Van Wely - Jakovenko

This game seems to be the most interesting in the round. Van Wely used the Dydyshko's move 9.Qe2!? in the Queen's Indian, as he already played against Gelfand earlier this year. Jakovenko deviated from that game with 10...Bb7, but after the novelty 11.Ng5! Van Wely developed a dangerous attack. A materialistic 18.Nxf8+ was possibly enough for an advantage, but he decided in favour of the interesting 18.Bf5. An excellent win by Van Wely!

1-0