The Week in Chess

Viswanathan Anand won a theoretical battle in a Bf4 Queen's Gambit. 15.Kg2 was a new move but the whole structure is well understood. When black gets it right it looks like a forced draw but the endgame can be miserable for black. Nakamura was highly critical of his 18...g6, it seemed he got annoyed with himself for playing it and he gradually subsided to a loss. This allowed Anand to take the lead from Nakamura with one round of classical and then 5 more rounds of rapid to go.

Levon Aronian had a nice edge against Fabiano Caruana in a Lasker Queen's Gambit but at some point he wasn't quite precise enough and the game finished in a draw.

Kramnik - Karjakin was a reversed King's Indian. Karjakin got a serious advantage at one point but just couldn't find a way to convert and the game was drawn.

Round 4 Standings (2 points for a win): Anand 6pts, Nakamura 5pts, Kramnik 4pts, Caruana, Karjakin, Aronian 3pts

Round 5 pairings Wednesday 18th Feb: Nakamura-Aronian, Caruana-Kramnik, Karjakin-Anand