
The tournament, which is being held in the Central Military Club in Sofia,
Bulgaria, is a double round-robin (all play all, with white and black). The
rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves + 1 hour to the end of the game. Starting
time: 15:00h local time (12:00h UTC), except the final round, which starts at
14:00h.
Round four report
Round 4: Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
1-0 |
Ivan Cheparinov |
Bu Xiangzhi |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
|
We apologise for the delay in our full articles, brought about by a long holiday
weekend. The occasion was Pentacost or Whitsun, a Christian feast that commemorates
the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, who thereupon proceeded to
engage in a form of glossolalia.
Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [E99]
4th M-Tel Masters Sofia BUL (4), 11.05.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5
Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.c5 g5 14.Rc1 Ng6 15.cxd6 cxd6
16.Nb5 Rf7 17.Qc2 Ne8 18.Nf2 h5 19.a4 Bf8 20.h3 Rg7 21.Qb3 Nh4 22.Rc2 g4 23.fxg4
Nf6 24.Be1 hxg4 25.hxg4 Nh5 26.Nh1 f3 27.Bxf3 Nf4 28.Ng3 Bxg4 29.Bxg4 Rxg4 30.Nc7
Rc8 31.Ne6 Rxc2 32.Qxc2
In this King's Indian tussle Ivan Cheparinov has been feeling the pressure
from the top-form Vassily Ivanchuk, but now, eight moves before the time control,
he seems to have found enough counterplay to ensure the draw. With error-free
play, naturally. 32...Qb6+? A better choice would have been
32...Qe8. Now the game quickly goes down the drain. 33.Kh1 Nhxg2 34.Nf5
Qa6 35.Rg1 Qd3 36.Qxd3 Nxd3 37.Bh4 Rxe4 38.Rxg2+ Kf7 39.Nxd6+ Bxd6 40.Ng5+
and after capturing on e4 White will be a full rook up. 1-0.
Current standings

Video reports by Europe Echecs

The captions in the video says it all: Vassily Ivanchuk enters the sound-proof
glass enclosure

Ivan Cheparinov, the impala calf who faces the claws of the predator

The moment has come: Cheparinov has played 32...Qb6+ and Ivanchuk 33.Kh1+/=

In the video report "Chess TV News (4)" we see how the "cage"
was built –
in stop motion, to the strains of Bizet's opera Carmen.
Schedule and results
Round 1: Thursday, May 8, 2008 |
Levon Aronian |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Ivan Cheparinov |
1-0 |
Bu Xiangzhi |
Teimour Radjabov |
0-1 |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
|
|
Round 2: Friday, May 9, 2008 |
Veselin Topalov |
0-1 |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Bu Xiangzhi |
½-½ |
Teimour Radjabov |
Levon Aronian |
½-½ |
Ivan Cheparinov |
|
|
Round 3: Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
Ivan Cheparinov |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
1-0 |
Bu Xiangzhi |
|
|
Round 4: Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
1-0 |
Ivan Cheparinov |
Bu Xiangzhi |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
|
|
Round 5: Monday, May 12, 2008 |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Bu Xiangzhi |
Levon Aronian |
- |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Ivan Cheparinov |
- |
Teimour Radjabov |
Games – Report |
|
Round 6: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Levon Aronian |
Bu Xiangzhi |
- |
Ivan Cheparinov |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
- |
Teimour Radjabov |
Games – Report |
|
Round 7: Thursday, May 15, 2008 |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Teimour Radjabov |
- |
Bu Xiangzhi |
Ivan Cheparinov |
- |
Levon Aronian |
Games – Report |
|
Round 8: Friday, May 16, 2008 |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Ivan Cheparinov |
Levon Aronian |
- |
Teimour Radjabov |
Bu Xiangzhi |
- |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Games – Report |
|
Round 9: Saturday, May 17, 2008 |
Bu Xiangzhi |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
- |
Levon Aronian |
Teimour Radjabov |
- |
Ivan Cheparinov |
Games – Report |
|
Round 10: Sunday, May 18, 2008 |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Teimour Radjabov |
Ivan Cheparinov |
- |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
Levon Aronian |
- |
Bu Xiangzhi |
Games – Report |
|