Gelfand was unable to obtain any advantage as White in the Catalan as Topalov managed to simplify into a drawn rook ending.
Aronian equalized comfortably in a quiet line of the Spanish and then various attempts to generate winning chances, especially by Aronian, couldn't break the deadlock.
The opening variation in Grischuk-Vallejo Pons involved Black sacrificing a piece for several pawns. White's king turned out to be somewhat exposed and the Spaniard was able to engineer a repetition.
| Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2759 | 0.5-0.5 | Lev Aronian | ARM | 2781 | Spanish Anti-Marshall | C88 |
| Alexander Grischuk | RUS | 2736 | 0.5-0.5 | Francisco Vallejo Pons | ESP | 2705 | Slav Defence | D17 |
| Boris Gelfand | ISR | 2761 | 0.5-0.5 | Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2805 | Catalan Opening | E05 |
So after four rounds Topalov and Grischuk have 2.5/4 and lead by half-a-point over Aronian and Vallejo Pons.
| World Ranking | Name | Country | Present Rating | Career highest rating | Pre-Linares virtual rating | Points | wins |
| 2 | Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2805 | 2813 | 2805 | 2.5 | 1 |
| 15 | Alexander Grischuk | RUS | 2736 | 2748 | 2756 | 2.5 | 1 |
| 5 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2781 | 2786 | 2782.3 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Francisco Vallejo Pons | ESP | 2705 | 2711 | 2708.2 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | Boris Gelfand | ISR | 2761 | 2761 | 2750.4 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 7 | Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2759 | 2759 | 2740.2 | 1.5 | 0 |
Before this event, Alexander Grischuk was winning enough rating points to go past his previous high, and furthermore has started well!
Both of Gelfand and Gashimov have their career highest ratings at present but are expecting to go down on the next list.
The other three players Topalov, Aronian and Vallejo Pons are within 'one good tournament' of surpassing their previous high-points.
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