Candidates Tournament Round 4

Magnus Carlsen beat Alexander Grischuk in round four of the 2013 Candidates Tournament to move into a share of the lead with Lev Aronian on 3/4 points.

With 4.d3 Carlsen declined to enter the mainline Berlin and an imbalanced position developed. Attacks on opposite wings guaranteed excitement as the players raced to break through first.

It was Carlsen who gained the upper hand, and although Grischuk seemed to have chances on the kingside, his habitual time trouble combined with Carlsen's accurate defence left him lost before the first time control.  In the post-match press conference Carlsen said "I wasn't overly happy with the first two games, but now I've got two wins I'm right where I need to be."

Magnus Carlsen won his second game in a row

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Today's victim was Alexander Grischuk

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1.e4. Still best by test?

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First to finish was the game between Lev Aronian and Peter Svidler. It was excellent home preparation from Svidler once again, this time achieving a comfortable draw by catching Aronian by surprise with the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

Peter Svidler showed more great home preparation

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Accepted? Aronian was taken by surprise in the opening.

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The bottom of the table encounter between Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk provided unexpected fireworks as Ivanchuk once again chose an offbeat opening line: the Chigorin Defence to the Queen's Gambit.  A ferocious struggle ended in a draw by perpetual check, but it was hugely entertaining while it lasted! 

Bloodied, but unbowed. Gelfand and Ivanchuk fought each other like wounded tigers.

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Last to finish was the game between Teimour Radjabov and Vladimir Kramnik.  It was an evenly matched encounter arising out of a Nimzo-Indian which ended in a draw after 50 moves.

A draw for Radjabov and Kramnik

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The view of the playing area from the audience.

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Magnus Carlsen and the head of organisers AGON, Andrew Paulson, were interviewed by the BBC:

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The standings after four rounds

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The 2013 Candidates Tournament runs from 14 March - 2 April in London, with the winner earning the right to challenge current world champion Vishy Anand for the title.

The tournament is an 8-player double round-robin event and the venue is The IET at 2 Savoy Place on the banks of the river Thames. The total prize fund is €510,000 (approx 665,000 USD). 

All rounds start at 14:00 GMT, and the time control is 2 hours for 40 moves, then an extra hour added for the next 20 moves, then 15 minutes more with a 30 second increment to finish.

The official FIDE website coverage is at london2013.fide.com.