Thessaloniki Grand Prix Round 4
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After four rounds of the FIDE Thessaloniki Grand Prix, there are no fewer than 7 players "leading" on 2½ points. It seems that no-one is able to impose their authority on the rest of the field.
After yesterday's tragic loss on time, Vassily Ivanchuk was a shadow of his true self today against Veselin Topalov. Ivanchuk's choice of 17...Qc5 was punished ruthlessly with 18.e7! by the Bulgarian, and Ivanchuk offered his hand in resignation after just 21 moves.
The other decisive game of the day came in the encounter between Leinier Dominguez and Peter Svidler. Minor pieces were quickly exchanged in a Ruy Lopez to leave a queen and rook ending, and when Dominguez pushed his f-pawn to f5 and later f6, black's king had nowhere left to hide.
Sunday is the first rest day, so round five is on Monday.
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Vassily Ivanchuk's body language didn't exactly bode well for his chances
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Leinier Dominguez scored a nice win against Peter Svidler
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Alexander Morozevich was held to a thrilling draw by Hikaru Nakamura
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Fabiano Caruana drew with Rustam Kasimdzhanov
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Etienne Bacrot held Alexander Grischuk to a draw
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Ruslan Ponomariov also drew with Gata Kamsky
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The standings after 4 rounds
| Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2741 | 2½ |
| Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2793 | 2½ |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2699 | 2½ |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2779 | 2½ |
| Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2723 | 2½ |
| Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2774 | 2½ |
| Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2760 | 2½ |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2742 | 2 |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2769 | 1½ |
| Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 2725 | 1½ |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2775 | 1 |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2755 | ½ |
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The schedule for the 2013 Thessaloniki Grand Prix
| 21st May 2013 | Arrival & Opening Ceremony |
| 22nd May 2013 | Round 1 |
| 23rd May 2013 | Round 2 |
| 24th May 2013 | Round 3 |
| 25th May 2013 | Round 4 |
| 26th May 2013 | Free Day |
| 27th May 2013 | Round 5 |
| 28th May 2013 | Round 6 |
| 29th May 2013 | Round 7 |
| 30th May 2013 | Round 8 |
| 31st May 2013 | Free Day |
| 1st June 2013 | Round 9 |
| 2nd June 2013 | Round 10 |
| 3rd June 2013 | Round 11 & Closing Ceremony |
| 4th June 2013 | Departure |
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The fourth Grand Prix of the 2012/13 series runs from 21 May - 4 June in Thessaloniki, Greece. The full pairings are available here.
The overall winner and runner-up of the 2012/13 Grand Prix series will qualify for the next Candidates Tournament, expected to be held in March 2014. The first three events were held in London, Tashkent and Zug. The current standings are shown here.
Each tournament is a single round-robin featuring 12 out of the 18 players in the Grand Prix, and each player competes in four of the six events. The best 3 scores of each player count towards their overall score. The official regulations for the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix can be found here.
All rounds start at 14:00 local time (11:00 UTC) except the final round which starts 2 hours earlier. The time control used is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, then 15 minutes plus a 30 second increment after move 60.
Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich at the official website, which has live games, analysis and video.
Games via TWIC.
