Four players share the lead in Reykjavik

The strong open at Reykjavik is already heating up. The match-ups of the 4th round were more balanced and the games more fighting. Four players kept their perfect score and now share the lead: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Pavel Eljanov, Yu Yangyi and Grzegorz Gajewski.

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There were some battles that finished rather quickly given the quality of the players.

GM David Navara bounced back from his two draws against lower rated players with a 28-move win against IM Robert Ris. The Czech super-GM went for a direct kingside attack against the Grunfeld. First, he sacrificed his bishop for two pawns on the 15th move, then Ris made a big blunder and Navara was able to show a nice tactical sequence to win the game.

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave just needed 24 moves to get his fourth straight victory. Dutch GM Erwin L’Ami chose the Caro-Kann Defense and took way too long to develop his kingside. Maxime exchanged the queens in a very favorable position and went for a central attack. In the final position, the French GM has the initiative and has recovered all the sacrificed material.

Pavel Eljanov defeated GM Kveinys Aloyzas from Lithuania with the white pieces. The Ukrainian used his queenside play effectively and got a passed pawn on the a-file. When a queen trade was unavoidable, the Lithuanian resigned understanding that the rest was just a matter of technique.

Yu Yangyi’s victory was of a different nature. His rival, American GM Yuri Shulman, chose the French Opening and went for a very tactical line where he keeps his king in the center. The Chinese attacked his brave opponent from all flanks until the black position became way too vulnerable even for the talented Shulman. The game finished after 33 moves in a position where white is about to get a rook advantage.

GM Grzegorz Gajewski was the last player to get a perfect score, after defeating IM Andrew Muir, who had already upset a GM in the second round. It took 74 moves for the Polish to get his victory. Muir arrived to an almost equal endgame, but his more experienced rival managed to outplay him. Gajewski will play against Yu Yangyi in tomorrow’s round.

Standings after 4 rounds:

1	GM	Yu Yangyi	CHN	2688	4.0
2	GM	Eljanov Pavel	UKR	2678	4.0
3	GM	Gajewski Grzegorz	POL	2644	4.0
4	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	FRA	2715	4.0
5	GM	Cheparinov Ivan	BUL	2709	3.5
	GM	So Wesley	PHI	2684	3.5
7	GM	Giri Anish	NED	2722	3.5
8	GM	Socko Bartosz	POL	2643	3.5
	GM	Baklan Vladimir	UKR	2609	3.5
10	GM	Jones Gawain C B	ENG	2637	3.5
11	GM	Kristjansson Stefan	ISL	2486	3.5
12	GM	Ipatov Alexander	TUR	2569	3.5
13	IM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	ISL	2509	3.5
14	WGM	Guo Qi	CHN	2431	3.5
15	IM	Wei Yi	CHN	2501	3.5
16	IM	Muir Andrew J Mr	SCO	2313	3.0
17	GM	Shulman Yury	USA	2563	3.0
18	GM	L’ami Erwin	NED	2622	3.0
19	IM	Li Wenliang	CHN	2411	3.0
20	WGM	Huang Qian	CHN	2478	3.0
21	WGM	Tan Zhongyi	CHN	2466	3.0
	IM	Schreiner Peter	AUT	2439	3.0
23	GM	Kveinys Aloyzas	LTU	2533	3.0
24	GM	Halkias Stelios	GRE	2566	3.0
25	GM	Grandelius Nils	SWE	2566	3.0
	GM	Stefansson Hannes	ISL	2496	3.0
27	IM	Diermair Andreas	AUT	2407	3.0
28	GM	Ding Liren	CHN	2709	3.0
29	FM	Handler Lukas	AUT	2369	3.0
30	GM	Navara David	CZE	2710	3.0
31	IM	Krush Irina	USA	2460	3.0
32	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	2675	3.0
	GM	Dziuba Marcin	POL	2602	3.0
34	GM	Yilmaz Mustafa	TUR	2531	3.0
35	GM	Esen Baris	TUR	2565	3.0
36	GM	Amin Bassem	EGY	2631	3.0
37	IM	Bartholomew John	USA	2435	3.0
38	IM	Smith Axel	SWE	2485	3.0
	IM	Andersen Mads	DEN	2462	3.0
	IM	Mikkelsen Nikolaj	DEN	2421	3.0
41	IM	Kislik Erik Andrew	USA	2359	3.0
42	WGM	Wang Jue	CHN	2375	3.0
43	IM	Kjartansson Gudmundur	ISL	2430	3.0
	FM	Jayakumar Adarsh	USA	2271	3.0
45	GM	Solak Dragan	TUR	2603	3.0
46	GM	Maze Sebastien	FRA	2556	3.0
47		Helin Mikael	SWE	1910	3.0
48	GM	Oleksienko Mikhailo	UKR	2568	3.0
49	GM	Danielsen Henrik	ISL	2507	3.0
50	GM	Xiu Deshun	CHN	2530	3.0
51	IM	Urkedal Frode	NOR	2473	3.0
	IM	Zumsande Martin	GER	2419	3.0
53	IM	Bekker-Jensen Simon	DEN	2405	3.0
54	NM	Norowitz Yaacov	USA	2432	3.0
	IM	Miedema David –	NED	2364	3.0
56	GM	Thorhallsson Throstur	ISL	2441	2.5
57		Beeke Bob	NED	2257	2.5
58	IM	Guramishvili Sopiko	GEO	2414	2.5
59	GM	Williams Simon K	ENG	2498	2.5
60	IM	Ris Robert	NED	2407	2.5
61		Wang Yiye	CHN	2226	2.5
62	IM	Hagen Andreas Skytte	DEN	2411	2.5
63	IM	Lou Yiping	CHN	2468	2.5
64	GM	Olafsson Fridrik	ISL	2416	2.5
65	GM	Kuzubov Yuriy	UKR	2622	2.5
66	FM	Hambleton Aman	CAN	2472	2.5
67	GM	Sokolov Ivan	NED	2644	2.5
68	WGM	Ptacnikova Lenka	ISL	2269	2.5
69	WGM	Mamedjarova Turkan	AZE	2280	2.5
70	WGM	Mammadova Gulnar	AZE	2369	2.5
71		Omarsson Dadi	ISL	2212	2.5
72		Karason Askell O	ISL	2235	2.5
73	FM	Valenti Giuseppe	ITA	2204	2.5
		Maack Kjartan	ISL	2136	2.5
75	IM	Thorfinnsson Bjorn IM	ISL	2386	2.5
76	WGM	L’ami Alina	ROU	2362	2.5
77	WGM	Cherednichenko Svetlana	UKR	2307	2.5
78	IM	Arngrimsson Dagur	ISL	2375	2.5
79		Drill Frank	GER	2124	2.5
80	IM	Bjarnason Saevar	ISL	2133	2.5
81	FM	Ekeberg Carl Fredrik	NOR	2274	2.5
		Rodriguez Fonseca Jorge	ESP	2009	2.5
		Ofstad Sigurd	NOR	1985	2.5
84		Steindorsson Sigurdur P.	ISL	2235	2.5
	WCM	Roberts Lynda	WLS	1903	2.5
86	WFM	Newrkla Katharina	AUT	2135	2.5
87		Raddatz Michael	GER	2075	2.5
88		Leimeister Winfried	GER	1909	2.5
89	FM	Bjerke Richard	NOR	2131	2.0
90	IM	Borsos Bogdan	UKR	2260	2.0
91		Thorhallsson Gylfi	ISL	2141	2.0
92	WGM	Kashlinskaya Alina	RUS	2350	2.0
93		Jensen Soren	DEN	1909	2.0
94	WGM	Saduakassova Dinara	KAZ	2312	2.0
95		Van Heirzeele Daniel	BEL	2125	2.0
96	FM	Gislason Gudmundur	ISL	2329	2.0
	WIM	Van Weersel Arlette	NED	2211	2.0
98	WFM	Frisk Ellinor	SWE	2197	2.0
		Mihajlov Sebastian	NOR	2059	2.0
100	IM	Prosviriakov Vladimir	USA	2297	2.0
		Tari Aryan	NOR	2263	2.0
	FM	Thompson Ian D	ENG	2260	2.0
103		Bird Andrew	AUS	2223	2.0
104	FM	Kvisvik Brede	NOR	2314	2.0
		Christiansen Johan-Sebastian	NOR	2071	2.0
106		Heerde Thomas	GER	2053	2.0
107		Finnbogadottir Tinna Kristin	ISL	1871	2.0
108		Halldorsson Bragi	ISL	2180	2.0
		Karlsson Robin	SWE	1980	2.0
110		Schou-Moldt Thomas	DEN	2236	2.0
111		Eliasson Kristjan Orn	ISL	1873	2.0
112	FM	Bewersdorff Oliver	GER	2335	2.0
113		Johannsson Orn Leo	ISL	1953	2.0
114	FM	Andreasen Per Naesby	DEN	2302	2.0
115		Murray Michael A.	CAN	2017	2.0
116		Jonsson Olafur Gisli	ISL	1870	2.0
117		Ragnarsson Dagur	ISL	1961	2.0
118	FM	Cubas Pons Juan Miguel	ESP	2284	2.0
119		Palsson Halldor	ISL	2078	2.0
120		Ornolfsson Magnus P.	ISL	2169	2.0
	CM	Herbold Manfred	GER	2125	2.0
		Johannesson Oliver	ISL	1988	2.0
123		Frick Renato	LIE	2075	2.0
		Marentini Marcel	SUI	2069	2.0
125		Johansen Stian	NOR	2090	2.0
		Doell Detlef	GER	2044	2.0
127		Haraldsson Leif	SWE	2028	2.0
		Maggason Oskar Mason	ISL	1903	2.0
129		Pretterhofer Kiaras	AUT	1997	2.0
130		Kleinert Juergen	GER	1991	2.0
		Thorsteinsdottir Hallgerdur	ISL	1960	2.0
		Merkesvik Sondre	NOR	1903	2.0
		Klug Christian	GER	1894	2.0
134		Birgisson Ingvar Orn	ISL	1953	2.0
135		Bergthorsson Jon Thor	ISL	2125	2.0
136		Michel Steve	NED	2008	2.0
		Schadd Jan	NED	0	2.0
138		Sverrisson Nokkvi	ISL	1990	2.0
139		Hardarson Jon Trausti	ISL	1853	2.0
140		Jablon Stephen	USA	1896	2.0
141		Karlsson Mikael Johann	ISL	1990	2.0
142		Ragnarsson Johann	ISL	2046	1.5
	WFM	Thorsteinsdottir Gudlaug	ISL	2041	1.5
144		Birgisdottir Ingibjorg	ISL	1783	1.5
145		Halldorsson Jon Arni	ISL	2222	1.5
		Isaksson Per	SWE	2016	1.5
147		Bergsson Stefan	ISL	2180	1.5
		Herda Christoph Dr.	GER	1915	1.5
		Johannsdottir Johanna Bjorg	ISL	1872	1.5
150		Palmqvist Fredrik	SWE	2050	1.5