After the rest day...let battle recommence!
After a hard-earned rest day in Wijk aan Zee the protagonists will be crossing swords again later today.
Here is a brief summary of the pairings plus the standings and what to look out for.
The leader Alexei Shirov is playing the inconsistent Van Wely who has lost three in a row. Ivanchuk is also playing an out-of-form opponent, Nigel Short.
Nakamura meets Carlsen and the public will be hoping for fireworks.
| Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | | |
| Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | | Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | | |
| Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | | |
| Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | | |
| Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | | |
| Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | | |
| Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | | |
Here are the standings after the fourth round.
| Seed | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
| 1 | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 4 |
| 2= | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 3 |
| 2= | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | 3 |
| 2= | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | 3 |
| 5= | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 2 |
| 5= | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | 2 |
| 5= | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 2 |
| 5= | Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 2 |
| 9= | Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | 1.5 |
| 9= | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | 1.5 |
| 9= | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | 1.5 |
| 12= | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | 1 |
| 12= | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | 1 |
| 14 | Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | 0.5 |
B-Group
Ni Hua has Black against the unbeaten David Howell whereas Anish Giri faces Sutovsky who is always exciting to watch.
The other players on a plus score, Harikrishna and L'Ami both have the Black pieces.
| Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | | Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | | |
| Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2666 | | |
| David Howell | ENG | 2606 | | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | | |
| Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | | |
| Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | | |
| Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | | Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | | |
| Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | | |
The leader board could change radically in this closely contested tournament. The winner qualifies for next year's A-Group
| Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
| 1= | GM | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 3 |
| 1= | GM | Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | 3 |
| 3= | GM | Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 2.5 |
| 3= | GM | Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 2.5 |
| 3= | GM | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | 2.5 |
| 6= | GM | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | 2 |
| 6= | GM | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 2 |
| 6= | GM | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | 2 |
| 6= | GM | Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | 2 |
| 6= | GM | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | 2 |
| 11= | GM | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2657 | 1.5 |
| 11= | IM | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | 1.5 |
| 13 | GM | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | 1 |
| 14 | GM | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | 0.5 |
Group C
Li Chao has White against Van Kampen whereas Robson will have Black today against Peng.
| Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | | |
| Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | | Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | | |
| Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | | Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | | |
| Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | | |
| Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | | Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | | |
| Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | | Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | | |
| Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | | Robin van Kampen | NED | 2456 | | |
The highest placed Dutch player Robin Swinkels has Black against a lower-rated countryman.
| Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
| 1= | GM | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | 3.5 |
| 1= | GM | Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 3.5 |
| 3= | GM | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | 2.5 |
| 3= | GM | Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 2.5 |
| 3= | IM | Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 2.5 |
| 3= | GM | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | 2.5 |
| 3= | GM | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | 2.5 |
| 8 | IM | Robin van Kempen | NED | 2456 | 2 |
| 9= | IM | Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 1.5 |
| 9= | FM | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | 1.5 |
| 9= | FM | Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | 1.5 |
| 12 | WGM | Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | 1 |
| 13= | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 0.5 |
| 13= | - | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | 0.5 |
For further information official site
By Glenn Flear, le 01/21/2010