Jobava and Efimenko lead

Montpellier-based Swiss grandmaster Yannick Pelletier caused the biggest upset in the third round by beating David Navara with the black pieces.
In the fourth round Jobava and Efimenko were the winners at the top (both won with Black!) to become the only two on 4/4.
In the Women's event Monika Socko is sole leader.

Here are the results of the leaders, all had three points before the fourth round except Michael Adams who had the 'upfloat'. Adams was the only winner with the White pieces on the top twenty boards, whereas there were three wins with Black and as many as 16 draws.

1GMFrancisco Vallejo PonsESP27080.5-0.5GMArtyom TimofeevRUS2655
2GMMichal KrasenkovPOL26520-1GMBaadur JobavaGEO2695
3GMArkadij NaiditschGER26910-1GMZahar EfimenkoUKR2640
4GMYannick PelletierSUI26110.5-0.5GMErnesto InarkievRUS2667
5IMJure SkoberneSLO25090.5-0.5GMLiviu-Dieter NisipeanuROU2661
6GMIan NepomniachtchiRUS26560.5-0.5GMNikita MaiorovBLR2510
7GMMichael Adams (2.5)ENG27041-0IMSasa MartinovicCRO2509

There are now two players on 4 and 15 on 3.5.

Baadur Jobava one of two players on 4/4!

The top seven boards of the women's event were as follows. Monika Socko is now half-a-point ahead of seven players on 3.5.

1GMKetevan Arakhamia-Grant (3)SCO24470.5-0.5GMTatiana Kosintseva (3)RUS2524
2GMMonika Socko (3)POL24651-0WGMIrina Chelushkina (3)SRB2319
3IMMariya Muzychuk (2.5)UKR24440.5-0.5GMAntoaneta Stefanova (2.5)BUL2555
4IMNino Khurtsidze (2.5)GEO24340.5-0.5IMNadezhda Kosintseva (2.5)RUS2554
5IMAnna Muzychuk (2.5)SLO25331-0WGMAnastasia Bodnaruk (2.5)RUS2384
6GMPia Cramling (2.5)SWE25231-0WGMJolanta Zawadzka (2.5)POL2404
7WGMNatalia Zhukova (2.5)UKR24920.5-0.5IMSvetlana Matveeva (2.5)RUS2373

The number in brackets is the player's total before the game and their highest FIDE title is also mentioned. You may have noticed that there are several different titles in the Women's event! The following table should help explain the relative importance of these labels.

AbbreviationFull titleTypical strengthGender requirement
GMInternational Grandmaster2500+Same as for Men
IMInternational Master2400+Same as for Men
WGMWomen's Grandmaster2350+Women only
WIMWomen's International Master2250+Women only
FMFIDE Master2250+Same as for Men
WFMWomen's Fide Master2100+Women only

The latter two titles have never really caught on and have limited recognition in the real world.

More information on the official tournament site


Published on , Updated on