Biel 2007 - Round 4

Alexander Onischuk in wonderful shape, leading together with Carlsen

Finally a combative round at the main Biel 2007 tournament. For awhile it looked like all games will be decided but Judit Polgar successfully built a fortress against Teimour Radjabov's pair of Bishops. Slightly unusual score for Radjabov so far - four draws after four games.

American Grandmaster Alexander Onischuk continues to impress as he won another sharp game, this time Botvinnik Semi-Slav against Loek Van Wely. Loek committed decisive mistake when he abandoned crucial e7 square with 23...Qd4. This leaves him knocked on the floor with only half a point.

Alexander Motylev and Magnus Carlsen

Incredible blunder by Alexander Motylev in better position against Magnus Carlsen. With two extra pawns he left Bishop en-prise and immediately resigned. We understand he was in severe time trouble. Carlsen tried another aggressive Ruy Lopez with Black, and again run into problems.

It is not clear if Bu Xianghzi analysed 15...f5 at home or run for it over the board. Avrukh jumped on the opportunity, took the pawn and seized permanent initiative to take the game home. 15...g6 was decent enough.

Teimour Radjabov and Alexander Grischuk

Yannick Pelletier probably missed intermediate 20. Bg4 and went a pawn down after this cute combination. With additional benefit of Bishop's pair, everyone expected easy technical realization by Alexander Grischuk. He allowed some chances to his opponent, but eventually clinched the game after the combined play on both flanks.

Round 4 results:

Teimour Radjabov - Judit Polgar draw
Alexander Onischuk - Loek Van Wely 1 - 0
Alexander Motylev - Magnus Carlsen 0 - 1
Boris Avrukh - Bu Xiangzhi 1 - 0
Alexander Grischuk - Yannick Pelletier 1 - 0

Round 4 standings:

1-2. Magnus Carlsen (Norway 2710) and Alexander Onischuk (USA 2650) 3.0
3. Boris Avrukh (Israel 2645) 2.5
4-7. Alexander Motylev (Russia 2648), Judit Polgar (Hungary 2707), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan 2746) and Alexander Grischuk (Russia 2726) 2.0
8-9. Yannick Pelletier (Switzerland 2583) and Bu Xianghzi (China 2685) 1.5
10. Loek Van Wely (Netherlands 2679) 0.5