Melody Amber, Round 4

Good news! First, Anand was stopped today - Kramnik managed a draw in their second game. So even if the tournament is looking pretty unsuspenseful at the moment, at least Anand won't completely whitewash the field.

Second and more importantly, the blunders are back! Today we have three slips on the banana peel which we can use to comfort ourselves in our weaker moments:

Vallejo Pons,F (2686) - Shirov,A (2713) [D10]
Amber Blindfold Monte Carlo MNC (4), 22.03.2005

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3 b5 6.c5 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.b4 Bg4 9.Bb2 Nbd7 10.Ne2 Qc7 11.a4 0-0 12.Ra3 Rfb8 13.Qa1 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Qc8 15.Bc3 Ne8 16.f4 Ndf6 17.Ng3 e6 18.Ke2 Nc7 19.Bd2 Qd8 20.Qg1 Kf8 21.Qg2 bxa4 22.Rxa4 Ra7 23.Rha1 Rba8 24.R1a2 Nd7 25.Qf3 Qh4

White's fine here, perhaps even a little bit better. But that pesky Black queen - we don't want to let her bother our kingside, do we?

26.Qg4?? Qxg4+ 0-1

Morozevich,A (2741) - Bareev,E (2709) [B10]
Amber Blindfold Monte Carlo MNC (4), 22.03.2005

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Ne5 e6 5.d4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Qb6 7.c4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Nge7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Na4 Qd8 12.Qc2 Bd6 13.Re1 Qc7 14.Bd2 Nf5 15.Nf3 dxc4 16.Qxc4 a5 17.Nc5 Qb6 18.Rac1 h6 19.b3 Rd8 20.Qc2 Bf8 21.Be3 Rd5 22.h3 Qb5 23.Na4 Bb4 24.Red1 Bb7 25.a3 Bxa3 26.Nc3 Nxe3 27.fxe3 Bxc1 28.Nxb5 Bxe3+ 29.Kh1 Rxb5 30.Qe4 Bg5 31.Nxg5 Rxg5 32.Rd2 Rf5 33.Qe3 Rd5 34.Qf4 Rd7 35.Qe5 Rd5 36.Qc7 Rb5 37.Rd3 Rc8 38.Qd7 Rf8 39.Kh2 Ba8 40.Rc3 Rb7 41.Qd6 Rbb8 42.Rg3 Rb5 43.Qe7 Rf5 44.Qh4 Kh8 45.Qe7 Kg8 46.Kg1 g6 47.Qa7 Rd8 48.Qc7

After an unusual opening and an eventful middlegame, the position remains complicated and approximately even. But not for long!

48...h5?? 49.Qxd8+ 1-0

Shirov,A (2713) - Vallejo Pons,F (2686) [B30]
Amber Rapid Monte Carlo MNC (4), 22.03.2005

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.Bxc6+ bxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.d3 e5 7.Nbd2 Nf6 8.Nc4 Nd7 9.Ne3 Be6 10.c3 Be7 11.d4 f6 12.b3 0-0 13.Bb2 Re8 14.Nd2 d5 15.Qc2 Qb6 16.Nf3 exd4 17.cxd4 Bf8 18.exd5 cxd5 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Qd2 Rad8 21.Bd4 Ne5 22.Rfd1 Nxf3+ 23.gxf3 Bxd4 24.Qxd4 Qa6 25.Rd2 Bf7 26.Rc1 Re5 27.h4 Bh5 28.Kg2 Qb7 29.Rdc2 Re7 30.Nf5 Rf7 31.Rc6 Rfd7 32.Qf4 Bg6 33.Rc7 Qb5 34.Nd4 Qb4 35.h5

Vallejo had an edge most of the way, but the tide has turned somewhat and Shirov's active pieces give him the advantage. After 35...Be8, Black can fight, but after his next move it's over.

35...Bf7 ?? 36.Rxd7 (36...Rxd7 37.Rc8+ wins, so) 1-0

Round 4 summary:

Blindfold:

Vallejo-Shirov 0-1
Topalov-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Anand-Kramnik 1-0
Svidler-van Wely 0-1
Leko-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Bareev 1-0

Rapid:

Shirov-Vallejo 1-0
Ivanchuk-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Anand 1/2-1/2
van Wely-Svidler 0-1
Gelfand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Bareev-Morozevich 0-1

Standings:

Blindfold:

Anand 4
Kramnik 3
Ivanchuk, Leko, Morozevich, Svidler 2.5
Gelfand 2
van Wely 1.5
Bareev, Shirov, Vallejo 1
Topalov .5

Rapid:

Anand 3.5
Ivanchuk, Morozevich 3
Leko, Svidler 2.5
Shirov 2
Bareev, Gelfand, Kramnik 1.5
Topalov, Vallejo, van Wely 1

Overall:

Anand 7.5
Ivanchuk, Morozevich 5.5
Leko, Svidler 5
Kramnik 4.5
Gelfand 3.5
Shirov 3
Bareev, van Wely 2.5
Vallejo 2
Topalov 1.5