All Draws In Round 4 In Moscow
All games ended in draws today in the fourth round at the Mikhail Tal Memorial in Moscow, but at least not without some action from the players.
Gata Kamsky managed to survive a pawn down in an interesting ending against Evgeny Alekseev to earn a draw with his favourite Grunfeld defence.
Ivanchuk looked like he could pull off a win with the black pieces, but it slipped though his fingers as Mamedyarov found a way to force a draw with perpetual check despite Ivanchuk having a knight and three connected passed pawns for a rook!
Therefore Alexander Morozevich stays half a point ahead of his nearest rivals, Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Leko. Also, Alexei Shirov (pictured) finally gets on the scoreboard following a draw with the Israeli GM Boris Gelfand.
The results in round 4:
| Leko, Peter | - Morozevich, Alexander | ½-½ | 40 | C69 | Ruy Lopez Exchange |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | - Ivanchuk, Vassily | ½-½ | 48 | D10 | Slav Defence |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | - Ponomariov, Ruslan | ½-½ | 35 | E32 | Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2 |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | - Kamsky, Gata | ½-½ | 76 | D81 | Gruenfeld Botvinnik |
| Shirov, Alexei | - Gelfand, Boris | ½-½ | 29 | C43 | Petroff's Defence |
The standings after round 4:
| 1 | Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2788 | 3 |
| 2 | Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2781 | 2½ |
| 3 | Leko, Peter | HUN | 2741 | 2½ |
| 4 | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2742 | 2 |
| 5 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2718 | 2 |
| 6 | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2720 | 2 |
| 7 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2788 | 2 |
| 8 | Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2723 | 2 |
| 9 | Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 2708 | 1½ |
| 10 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2741 | ½ |
