Geneva Grand Prix, Rounds 3 and 4: The Pace Has Slowed; Radjabov Still Leads
After two uncharacteristically hard fought rounds (by the standards of this year's previous Grand Prix events), a sort of regression to the mean has set in. In both rounds 3 and 4 the draws were both plentiful and - in many cases, sadly - short. Still, the wins have no dried up completely. In round 3, Pavel Eljanov defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi while Dmitry Jakovenko's persistence in a drawn ending finally paid off against Richard Rapport.
Round 4 had even fewer interesting games, which was slightly compensated by one extra win. Peter Svidler won a very good game against Michael Adams on the white side of a Queen's Gambit Declined, Nepomniachtchi bounced back from his loss in round 3 by defeating Hou Yifan in a 4.d3 Berlin, and Saleh Salem relegated Rapport to clear last by defeating him with White in an O'Kelly Sicilian (though the opening was not to blame).
With five rounds to go, Teimour Radjabov maintains the lead with 3/4, but six players are only half a point behind: Levon Aronian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alexander Grischuk, Svidler, Eljanov, and Pentala Harikrishna.
TWIC coverage here.
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