Nepomniachtchi Leads Croatia Grand Chess Tour As Carlsen, Mamedyarov Play Stunner

Day four of the Croatia Grand Chess Tour was exciting despite all six games ending in draws. In an enterprising day of chess, the players entertained one and all in what can be called the round of missed chances. 

Tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi drew his first game of the the event rather quickly against compatriot Sergey Karjakin with white. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri drew after both players missed a defensive tactic in a highly risky position for White while the other games also had players missing their chances.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen lit up the stage with some daring play in the opening against Azerbaijani number one Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the game of the day which Carlsen himself claimed to be "an epic struggle." The chess world was quick to show their appreciation of this hard-fought draw.

One of the greatest players of all time, Garry Kasparov, explained the evolution of Carlsen's style and how it is great to see that the world champion is playing such fighting and attacking chess and not aiming for plus two or plus three. He also opined that Carlsen spends the highest time at the board among all players and his new tendency to take risks is against his playing style but is great for the public to see that classical chess is not dead.

.@Kasparov63 talks about the evolution of Carlsen’s playing style #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/kC1dubtf3F

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) June 29, 2019

Norwegian journalist and Chess.com author Tarjei Svensen exclaimed on Twitter: "What a crazy, crazy game that was! Carlsen extends his undefeated streak to 72 games by drawing Mamedyarov, the guy who last beat the world champion 333 days ago."

What a crazy, crazy game that was! Carlsen extends his undefeated streak to 72 games by drawing Mamedyarov, the guy who last beat the World Champion 333 days ago. #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/xsDEWOM6aL

— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) June 29, 2019

Carlsen was very generous with his time and his analysis at the post-game interview. He exclaimed: "I was thrilled after the opening." He later admitted that he just missed many things, but it was one epic struggle. Carlsen concluded by saying: "I was in time pressure for 35-40 moves and I just had no time. It was tough, very very tough."

In his post-game interview, Mamedyarov expressed, "Against Magnus I never think about draw, because when you think about draw, you lose. If you think about win, you can draw. You need to think about more."

Mamedyarov: "Against Magnus I never think about draw, because when you think about draw you lose. If you think about win, you can do draw. You need to think about more" #GrandChessTour

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) June 29, 2019

Tournament leader Nepomniachtchi had to give up his hopes of a Caruana'esque seven on seven start as he drew Karjakin. Nepomniachtchi's live rating of 2790.1 is his highest rating ever, and he is looking forward to breaking the 2800-rating threshold.

In his post-game interview, he first explained that the game wasn't very exciting for him and in the opening he chose the worst move order.

After the game, Karjakin said: "I didn't know I was much better. Now I'm disappointed."  Nepomniachtchi shared his wisdom and gave us the quote of the day by saying: "It's a game and everybody makes mistakes, this is how it works."

Zen quote of the day:

Nepo: "It's a game and everybody makes mistakes. This is how it works" #GrandChessTour

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) June 29, 2019

The game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri went back and forth. Interestingly, both these players are currently joint world number four with a rating of 2779. Both missed a beautiful tactic in an incredibly risky position for White.

Vachier-Lagrave explained his missed chance by saying: "There is nothing simple about this position."

MVL: "There is nothing simple about this position" #GrandChessTour

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) June 29, 2019

Giri later defended his opponent by saying: "I attack so rarely that whenever I attack people get really scared." He went one step further and, when asked to comment on Carlsen's game, was his usual best by saying: "He's thinking already after games like against me he can just play h4-h5, Ng5 and Qh7 mate. Not everybody will play like me, yea? Some people will resist."

Giri on Carlsen's game: "He's thinking already after games like against me he can just play h4-h5, Ng5 and Qh7 mate. Not everybody will play like me, yea? some people will resist" #GrandChessTour

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) June 29, 2019

American star Wesley So and Indian legend Viswanathan Anand played out an interesting draw in the English opening. Anand as Black played the move of the day with 15...g5!?. So found a way to steady the ship and then gave up a rook to wriggle out a draw with a perpetual at the end.

Vishy Anand 🇮🇳 has gone for the enterprising move 15)...g5!? which also happens to be the engine's top choice!

Will he be able to convert this against American star Wesley So 🇺🇲?
Only one way to find out ➡️ https://t.co/b1Fv2Ff9ED#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/2Q32AjNBRQ

— Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) June 29, 2019

Norwegian GM Jonathan Tisdall has noticed an increase in the trend of the flank pawns flying up the board. This continued in today's round as well as seen in all of the above games. 

Didn't take long for the g- and h-pawns to start flying today... #grandchesstour

— Jonathan Tisdall (@GMjtis) June 29, 2019

Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana started off with a queen's pawn opening but transposed into the Exchange variation of the Caro-Kann. Caruana kept up with the move that was played in four of the six games today and went with 13...g5!. He later had a chance to continue the onslaught with 28...g4! but refrained from that risky but potentially rewarding alternative.

Chinese star Ding Liren and current U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura played a rather uneventful draw in a game which saw Nakamura repeating his Queen's Gambit Accepted opening he used to draw Aleksandr Lenderman at the U.S. Chess Championship in March this year.

IO (International Organizer) Lennart Ootes, who is working as the official photographer and operating the DGT boards in Zagreb, beautifully summed up his experience in Croatia saying: "Croatia chess fans are amazing! They stay in the playing hall for hours observing the players, staring at the position on the screens and quietly discussing the game with their neighbors. Awarding the players with a big applause after the end of the last game."

Croatian chess fans are amazing! They stay in the playing hall for hours: observing the players, staring at the position on the screens and quietly discussing the game with their neighbors. Awarding the players with a big applause after the end of the last game. #GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/HFmpKHYCmV

— Lennart Ootes (@LennartOotes) June 29, 2019

2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour | Round 4 Standings

The 2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour takes place June 26 to July 8 at the Novinarski Dom in Zagreb, Croatia. This is one of two classical events of the tour this year. The time control is a new one with 130 minutes for each player with a 30-second delay from move one.

The games start at 4:30 pm local time (CEST), which is 10:30 a.m. Eastern and 7:30 a.m. Pacific. You can follow the games here as part of our live portal with daily commentary by GM Robert Hess.

The round four coverage by GM Robert Hess.

Previous reports:

• Carlsen Wins In 23 Moves As Grand Chess Tour Resumes
• Nepomniachtchi Leads Croatia Grand Chess Tour As Anand Miraculously Escapes
• Nepomniachtchi Nearing 2800 in Grand Chess Tour