Quiet round in Biel

by Alejandro Ramirez
7/17/2014 – After three thrilling rounds in Biel, Switzerland the tournament had a quieter day today; though it was not void of action. Hou Yifan pressed hard against Harikrishna and although she was better the entire game she never had a win, Wojtaszek and MVL drew in a very solid and boring game while the action was brought by Alexander Motylev and Giri, the latter who scores two in a row.

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International Chess Festival in Biel

Round Four

Round 04 –July 17, 2014
Hou Yifan 2629
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
Alexander Motylev 2698
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766

Video Recap

Hou Yifan's 50% is good but she has had three whites so far

Today's round was certainly more quiet than the previous ones in Biel. Hou Yifan had her third white in the start of the tournament as she faced off against Pentala Harikrishna. The Indian player decided not to repeat a Berlin Defense and instead went with the Caro-Kann. Hou Yifan's solid approach was not sufficient for an advantage, but the Indian may have been over-ambitious in his moves and let Hou Yifan sacrifice an exchange for two pawns and the better chances in the endgame. The advantage was never very big and eventually Harikrishna held the draw.

Pentala Harikrishna certainly had the worse part of today's draw

Anish Giri and Alexander Motylev played the action game of the day. It was always very unclear and very murky, certainly a difficult game to explain. Black's activity gave him compensation for White's pair of bishops, but that turned on its head when Motylev collected a pawn but Giri opened up the position. Eventually, in time trouble, Motylev blundered an exchange and that was the end of the game.

Even grandmasters crack under time pressure: Alexander Motylev

Anish Giri's two in a row!

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had no difficulties defending a symmetrical position against Radoslaw Wojtaszek and the game was an uneventful draw.

Radoslaw Wojtaszek couldn't even put pressure on MVL today

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will play in a tournament with a 2800 FIDE rating average later this year

Replay Round Four Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Schedule

Round 01 – July 14, 2014
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Alexander Motylev 2698
0-1
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Hou Yifan 2629
1-0
Anish Giri 2750
Round 02 – July 15, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
1-0
Anish Giri 2750
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
Hou Yifan 2629
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
Alexander Motylev 2698
Round 03 – July 16, 2014
Alexander Motylev 2698
1-0
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Hou Yifan 2629
0-1
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Round 04 –July 17, 2014
Hou Yifan 2629
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
Alexander Motylev 2698
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Round 05 – July 18, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766   Anish Giri 2750
Alexander Motylev 2698   Hou Yifan 2629
Round 06 – July 19, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733   Alexander Motylev 2698
Anish Giri 2750   Hou Yifan 2629
Round 07 – July 21, 2014
Anish Giri 2750   Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Hou Yifan 2629   Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Alexander Motylev 2698   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Round 08 – July 22, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Alexander Motylev 2698
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766   Hou Yifan 2629
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733   Anish Giri 2750
Round 09 – July 23, 2014
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733   Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Hou Yifan 2629   Alexander Motylev 2698
Round 10 – July 24, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Hou Yifan 2629
Alexander Motylev 2698   Anish Giri 2750
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766   Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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