Nigel Short found himself on the wrong side of Berlin variation of Ruy Lopez. Young Chinese star consistently outplayed him to reach the current position. Curious interaction on the d and e-files as both queens are pinned by the rooks. The crucial difference is in the safety of the kings. Hou Yifan will have the luxury of sacrificing material to open the gates around Kg8. She starts with wonderful

15. Ne4! Bg4?! 15... Bf5 16. Nd4! Bxe4 17. Qxe4 fxe5 18. Nxc6 with the clear advantage as black pieces are awfuly placed and light squares are alley for white queen. 15... fxe5 16. Nfxg5! with idea Qh5 16. exf6 Bh5 16... d5? 17. f7+! Kxf7 18. Nfxg5+ is crushing 17. Qe3! After this humble move, black is lost. 17... Bh6 17... h6 18. Nfxg5! 18. Ne5! The threat is simple Nxc6 and Ne7+ 18... Rxe5 19. Bxe5 Bxd1 20. Rxd1 Qe8 21. Bc3 Nd8 22. f7+! Qxf7 23. Nf6+ on 23...Kh8 white has 24. Ne8+ and 25. Qd4. 1-0 [Goran Urosevic]

Another Berlin variation was seen in game Nepomniachthi-Sargissian. Young Russian, who always scores many decisive games, prepared everything for the deadly

21. Nf5+! and now black is having problem with his king, knight and back rank. Notice how Bb3, Bc1, Qg3 and Rg1 are cooperating beautifully... 21... Kf8 22. Qh4! gxf5 23. Qh6+ Ke8 23... Rg7? 24. gxf5 and f5-f6 24. gxf5 d5 25. Qxg5! Rxg5 26. Rh8+ Ke7 27. Bxg5+ f6 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Be3 and white is playing an endgame with extra pawn. See rest of the game for Ian's inspiring technique. 29... Bb6 30. Ke2 Be8 31. Rh1 Bf7 32. Rh7 Bxe3 33. fxe3 Kf8 34. exd5 cxd5 35. Rh8+ Bg8 36. e4 Kg7 37. Rh4 Bf7 38. exd5 Bxd5 39. Bxd5 Rxd5 40. Rc4 Kh6 41. Rg4 Kh5 42. Rg7 a5 43. Ke3 b5 44. Ke4 Rd8 45. Rg6 Rd6 46. d4 exd4 47. cxd4 Rc6 48. Rg2 Rc1 49. Kd5 Re1 50. Kc6 b4 51. b3 1-0 [Goran Urosevic]

GM Erwin l'Ami is an enterprising player and his games are always pleasure for eyes. Against Koneru Humpy we saw four queens on the board, but Erwin wins with a blitzkrieg against black king.

38. a8=Q c1=Q 39. Qbb8 Kh6 40. Qf8+ Qg7 41. Qad8! Threatening mate on g5 and h4 41... f6 42. Qdxf6 black resigns as mate is inevitable 1-0 [Goran Urosevic]