Yesterday’s round was marked by the tournament moving to the Villa Marina’s magnificent Royal Hall, which means that all three sections of the tournament are now playing under the same roof. It is not every day that chess players get to fight out their games in surroundings like these…

Round 4 about to get underway at the Royal Hall

It was a great day for the Armenians, as Movsesian held Fressinet to a draw on the top board with the black pieces, while on board 2 Melkumyan overcame top seed Mickey Adams after a long and tough struggle. As Sargissian also won his game against Boruchovsky on board 6, this means that the three Armenian players are all in the joint lead as the tournament reaches the halfway mark. The other four players on 3.5/4 are Harikrishna, Fressinet, Naiditsch and Granda Zuniga.

The top two boards: Fressinet-Movsesian and Melkumyan-Adams

The biggest upset of the round was FM Koop’s (2407) demolition of GM Timman (2562), whose opening choice was swiftly punished by the young German player.

Thorben Koop during his round 1 game

Today’s round 5 pairings will see Movsesian face Harikrishna on board 1, while Sargissian takes on Fressinet and Naiditsch is opposed to Granda Zuniga. Melkumyan meanwhile will play the highest rated player on 3 points, England’s number 2 David Howell.

The tournament poster and chess roulette, yet another brainchild of Jennifer Shahade

All the games will kick off at 1.30pm local time and you can follow the action live here. As the tournament progresses, the games will keep getting more and more exciting, so make sure you don’t miss out! You can also check out yesterday’s video report, which includes interviews with Harikrishna, Granda Zuniga, Neelotpal, Melkumyan and Brunello.

Fiona Steil-Antoni