Open Section: MIKA Scores Important Win, Three Teams Sharing First
October 20, 2008
The top seeded Ural and MIKA were engaged in fearless battle in the 4th round of the European Club Cup. Levon Aronian won a beautiful game against Gata Kamsky and Arman Pashikian beat Alexander Motylev to present MIKA with a solid lead. Vladimir Malakhov succeeded only to reduce the margin by defeating Baadur Jobava, but with all the remaining games drawn, Ural was left without match points today.
Arkadij Naiditsch played a magnificent game versus Evgeny Najer and Paco Vallejo got more out of the tactical mess on board five, which was enough for Baden Baden to sign a comfortable 4-2 victory against TPS Saransk. Much more drama was seen in Linex – Economist where three games ran into the time trouble. Eventually, Linex hero from the earlier competitions – IM Manuel Perez Candelario – succumbed to Alexander Galkin, which was the only decisive game in the match.
Round 4 results
Round 4 standings
Interview with GM Arthur Kogan
Photos and videos
