Schacksnack

Results from round 4:

GM Anand, Viswanathan, India (2797) – GM Carlsen, Magnus, Norway (2865) 0-1

GM Baramidze, David, Germany (2594) – GM Najditsch, Arkadij, Germany (2706) 0-1

GM Caruana, Fabiano, Italy (2811) – GM Adams, Michael, England (2738) draw

GM Bacrot, Etienne, France (2711) – GM Aronian, Levon, Armenia (2777) draw

Carlsen had to beat Anand to be able to compete with Najditsch for the first place in this short tournament and he managed just that. Like a true world champion he beat Anand comparatively easy with the black pieces. Carlsen played aggressively from the outset with the Stonewall variation in the Dutch Defence. He thereafter played actively with both his rook pawns like he was inspired by the GM Richard Rapport’s games. It was actually these creative ideas that laid the foundation to decide the game. It should be noted though that Anand broke the classical rules by exchanging his strong e5-knight for Black’s white-squared double-edged bishop and that may have been a contribution to his eventual loss.

Najditsch had no problems to beat Baramidze and is the sole leader with 3 points out of 4. Carlsen and Caruana has 2.5/4.

Another recap from round 4.

Round 5 has the following meetings:

GM Aronian, Levon, Armenia (2777) – GM Anand, Viswanathan, India (2797)

GM Adams, Michael, England (2738) – GM Bacrot, Etienne, France (2711)

GM Najditsch, Arkadij, Germany (2706) – GM Caruana, Fabiano, Italy (2811)

GM Carlsen, Magnus, Norway (2865) – GM Baramidze, David, Germany (2594)

The most exciting game to follow in this round will probably be that between Najditsch and Caruana.

The games start at 15.00 (CET). The games can be followed live at chess24.com with excellent and professional comments by GM Nigel Short and GM Jan Gustafsson.

There is more information on the organizer’s homepage.