Candidates final: game 4 also drawn
Boris Gelfand (Israel) and Alexander Grischuk (Russia) also drew their 4th game of the Candidates final in Kazan, Russia. It was a quiet game that again started as a Symmetrical English and at move 18 the point was split. Two more classical games will be played and if necessary a tie-break on Thursday.General info
The Candidates matches take place May 3-27 in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. Levon Aronian (Armenia), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) were knocked out in the quarter-finals. In the semis, Alexander Grischuk (Russia) won against Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Boris Gelfand beat Gata Kamsky (USA). The quarter-finals and semi-finals consisted of four classical games and tie-breaks; there are six classical games in the final. The winner qualifies for a World Title match against Vishy Anand next year. More info here; tie-break rules here.Final, game 4
The starting time for today's game was postponed half an hour by the arbiters, because for some reason there was too much noise coming from somewhere else in the hotel. In a game that lasted only 18 moves, but still three hours on the clock, the balance was never disturbed. Gelfand played a much safer set-up in another Symmetrical English, and due to many subtleties in the opening, Grischuk started thinking at an early stage. However, with some accurate moves he made clear that White didn't have any advantage to hope for.At the press conference, Gelfand described it in English like this:I played a more safe and subtle line than in game 2. It was a tricky position with a lot of subtleties. Both used a lot of time the opening but Black manaed to neutralize wihte's pressure. In the final position it's difficult to find line or ideas where any side has any reason to play for a winGrischuk agreed:
White played tricky and poisonous move order, with lots of subtleties and nuances. I think I solved it quite reasonably. In the end, when we were going to exchange all four bishops, the position is just completely equal.
Gelfand-Grischuk
Candidates final, g4 (Kazan) 2011
Game viewer by ChessTempoIn the mean time, two more articles about the Candidates matches were posted on Chess in Translation. In the first there is a long interview with Gata Kamsky. A few quotes:
(...) we decided to play for a win in every game, regardless of whether it was rapid or classical chess. After all, the spectators were watching. I can’t play like Grischuk and Kramnik – making short draws. It’s not my style…
In general, I’m going to quit chess when I’m 40, so the next cycle will be my last.In the second (with the title 'God created man, but the Queen’s Gambit made them equal' :-) ), you can read a translation of the short press conference with Grischuk and Gelfand after their 14-move draw last Saturday, including a nice anecdote from Gelfand.
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Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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