Vladimir Kramnik kept a perfect score in the blindfold and maintained the lead in the overall standings half a point ahead of Levon Aronian, who spilled his first half point in the rapid competition, and Vasily Ivanchuk, who defeated the surprising tail-ender Teimour Radjabov 1.5-0.5.

The blindfold game between Teimour Radjabov and Vasily Ivanchuk saw a funny 'incident' when the Azerbaijani grandmaster asked the arbiter permission to go to the toilet. Normally speaking the players can go there alone if they go through a door at the back of the playing room and follow a route that doesn’t allow them to see any of the monitors where the games are shown. As this door turned out to be locked Radjabov had to go through the other door, but in this case he'd be able to see the monitors for the spectators in the playing room if he turned around. So, accompanied by chief arbiter Geurt Gijssen he left the room watching straight ahead and when he came back he had to cover his eyes with a napkin!

By the way, the game Radjabov played against Ivanchuk was an old sharp variation of the Austrian Attack against the Pirc Defence that was analyzed in great depth many years ago. Radjabov won an exchange against a pawn, but the balance was never unsettled and after 32 moves Black's draw proposal was accepted.

The rapid game was also a sharp affair. Radjabov 'defended' himself with his beloved King's Indian and before soon he was piling up pieces against the white king. Chances looked about equal, but Black lost control when he embarked on an audacious but flawed combination with 36…Bd7. Of course, Radjabov kept trying, but Ivanchuk kept a cool head and slowly but surely hauled in the point.

The blindfold game between Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand produced the biggest blindfold error so far. To be honest, the 'clash' between two of the favourites had not been too exciting when in a drawish ending, where White was only marginally better, Anand played his rook to f2, assuming he was trading it there for its white counterpart. Unfortunately for him that white rook was on f1, a fact that had not escaped Kramnik's mind, which one move later meant the end of the game.

Eager to have his revenge in the rapid game, Anand unleashed a ferocious attack. Sacrificing a full rook he aimed as many pieces at the black king as possible and although it seemed hard to believe that the white offensive was correct, this feeling of doubt was gradually replaced by the question how on earth Kramnik could survive the onslaught. But carefully treading through the minefield he did survive and when after 56 moves the game was drawn it was hard to decide who deserved more praise, the attacker or the defender.

Loek van Wely gladly accepted the challenge of Alexander Morozevich to battle another King's Indian in their blindfold game. Morozevich looked surprised when he arrived for the game and discovered that he was Black in the first game. Probably playing his preparation for the rapid game, he repeated the variation that had won him a full point last year. Van Wely thought this repetition was a clear case of superstition as his defeat then had not been connected with the opening. This time the Dutchman had no problems either. On the contrary. 'I believe that the play after 17…Nexd5 18.Bc4 is very favourable for White.' In fact the game was practically over after 19…Nfd5. 'I didn’t see a direct win after 19…Nxe4, but probably the computer will show a way,' Van Wely added. And indeed it does, after 19.Nxe5.

Morozevich levelled the score in the rapid game of their mini-match. Van Wely commented that he had left his opponent too much space and that his cramped position had left him in a precarious situation. Perhaps he should have given a pawn with 18…Nxc5 19.dxc5 Nd5 20.Qxb7. Now he lost an exchange and this deficit proved too big in the remainder of the game.

In the blindfold game between Paco Vallejo and Peter Svidler a calm Paulsen Sicilian suddenly became very sharp when White captured with the pawn instead of the queen on move 10. Now Black had to take action against the plan Qd2 and 0-0-0 and White develops a dangerous attack. Svidler found 10…Qc7 planning to answer 11.Qd2 with 11…d5. Vallejo's next move was a mistake, the king would have been better on d2, because in the game after 12…Nh5, White doesn't have 13.Rh1 because of 13…Ng3+. In the ensuing complications White just was too slow to embarrass the black position. Or as Svidler put it, 'This is why I still play the Paulsen after all these years. Your pawn structure is so healthy.' The game ended quicker than expected after Black's original 23…Rhe8. In fact it was so original that Vallejo believed Svidler had played 23…Ke8. Which explains why he took on f6 on move 26 and resigned right away when he saw Black's reply.

'I guess it's my lucky day,' Svidler quipped as he walked into the hospitality lounge after the rapid game. Again he had given 1.d4 a try, but the pawn sacrifice that he went for, although it looked similar to other such sacrifices, wasn't too impressive. On move 21 he decided to seek his chances in an exchange sacrifice which perhaps wasn't correct, but would leave Black with a complicated task if he wanted to win. Not much later White gave his queen for rook, bishop and a pawn, and although it was hard to believe that this was enough he already was back in business after 31.Bb5 thanks to the vulnerability of the black king. The next phase was fascinating to watch and ended in a marvellous mate (well, not really a mate, as Black can give his queen to prevent it, but still). Svidler regretted afterwards that the combination was 'flawed' because Black could have played 43…g3 instead of 43…Nc3 (and so he should have forced a draw earlier on), but perhaps he'll find some consolation in the fact that most beauty in chess exists thanks to imperfection.

Levon Aronian admitted that his opening play in the blindfold game against Magnus Carlsen had not been very ambitious. 'I just wanted to play something slow and develop some pressure.' Carlsen equalized, but went into the wrong direction when he played 26…Ne8, when the right plan was to move his king to the centre. Now White got a grip on the centre and after Black's 31…Nc5 he was winning. Aronian's only problem was that he still wanted to keep things simple and when he exchanged rooks he almost 'simplified to a draw'. Carlsen's problems were compounded by his shortage of time and although he fought with a will till the very last moment he nevertheless succumbed after long moves.

In the rapid game Aronian was lucky and he was the first to admit it. Following 'a horrible opening' he ended up in a lost position where he depended on the mercy of Carlsen to survive. Fortunately for the Armenian his opponent missed his chances and after 71 moves the game was a draw. White could have won in the position after 31…g6, where he can continue with f4, Bg2, Rd1 and Rxd5.

Peter Leko felt he was better after the opening in the Najdorf discussion he conducted with Boris Gelfand in their blindfold game. However, as the game went on he discovered that Black's position was more solid than he had expected. In fact, Gelfand had nothing to complain about and when under these comfortable circumstances he offered a draw, Leko, as he candidly confessed, was in fact happy to accept.

The rapid game was a long and tense fight. The opening went fine for Leko, but move by move Gelfand managed to increase the pressure on the black position. However, all these fine moves cost him a lot of time and when he had to make the most crucial decision he had about one minute left (plus the 10 seconds increments per move). After the game the players found that instead of 29.Rd7, White could have gotten a decisive advantage with 29.f4. The game lasted another 43 moves and Black even got the better chances, but in the end the rook endgame was a draw.

Today is a rest day in Monaco. Play is resumed on Wednesday with Round 5.

Results round 4:

Blindfold: Radjabov-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2, Kramnik-Anand 1-0, Van Wely-Morozevich 1-0, Vallejo-Svidler 0-1, Aronian-Carlsen 1-0, Leko-Gelfand 1/2-1/2.

Rapid: Ivanchuk-Radjabov 1-0, Anand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2, Morozevich-Van Wely 1-0, Svidler-Vallejo 1-0, Carlsen-Aronian 1/2-1/2, Gelfand-Leko 1/2-1/2.

Standings after the fourth round: 1. Kramnik 6.5; 2. Aronian 6.0; 3. Ivanchuk 5.5; 4. Svidler 5.0; 5-8. Anand, Gelfand, Morozevich, Leko 4.0 each; 9. Carlsen 3.0; 10-12. Vallejo, Radjabov, Van Wely 2.0.

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