Steady as you go
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Linares: Steady as you go

It's steady as you go at Linares as we reach the first rest day at the venerable Spanish Super-tournament, with three of the four rounds played being halved out.

The only bloodletting round we've witnessed so far was in round 2, as world #2 Veselin Topalov beat Vugar Gashimov, and defending Linares champion Alexander Grischuk beat Boris Gelfand. The net result is that both Topalov and Grischuk on +1 and a half point lead at the top ahead of Vallejo and Aronian, with Gelfand and Gashimov bringing up the rear on 1.5/4.

Both leaders are set for a round five showdown on Thursday - and Chess.FM will be back on the air with Mig & GM John "The Fed" Fedorowicz bringing you all the action as it happens, when it happens.

Game of the Day

Rd	Commentator	Game	Watch	Free preview
4	GM Jon Speelman	GM Vugar Gashimov vs. GM Levon Aronian
3	GM Larry Christiansen	GM Boris Gelfand vs. Francisco Vallejo
2	GM Var Akobian	GM Alexander Grischuk vs. GM Boris Gelfand
1	GM Joel Benjamin	GM Boris Gelfand vs. GM Vugar Gashimov

Standings after round 4

N	Name	FED	ELO	1		2		3		4		5		6		PTS	TPR
1	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	2736			.	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	1	.	2½	2846
2	Topalov, Veselin	BUL	2805	.	.			½	.	½	.	1	.	½	.	2½	2846
3	Aronian, Levon	ARM	2781	½	.	½	.			½	.	½	.	.	.	2	2751
4	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	ESP	2705	½	.	½	.	½	.			.	.	½	.	2	2770
5	Gashimov, Vugar	AZE	2759	½	.	0	.	½	.	.	.			½	.	1½	2683
6	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2761	0	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	½	.			1½	2664

Linares Schedule

Date	Time	Host	Commentator
13 February	10:00 AM	Macauley	Joel Benjamin
14 February	10:00 AM	Macauley	Varuzhan Akobian
15 February	10:00 AM	Mig	Larry Christiansen
16 February	10:00 AM	Mig	Jon Speelman
17 February	Rest Day
18 February	10:00 AM	Mig	John Fedorowicz
19 February	10:00 AM	Mig	Larry Christiansen
20 February	10:00 AM	Jennifer Shahade	Joel Benjamin
21 February	10:00 AM	Jennifer Shahade	Ronen Har-Zvi
22 February	Rest Day
23 February	10:00 AM	Mig	Ben Finegold
24 February	10:00 AM	Mig	Alex Yermolinsky

We also have the New In Chess trivia, where each day an ICC member will win a 1-year subscription to New In Chess magazine. There's also Game of the Day trivia sponsored by USCF Sales, where each day an ICC member can win a $50 gift certificate for the USCF Sales store.

And with the Topalov-Anand showdown on the horizon, not to mention being at the start of the Carlsen era, now could be the best time to join ICC as we follow events to the World Championship and beyond! Linares coverage starts Saturday, 13 February at 10:00am ET. Join ICC now to be in time for our Linares coverage by clicking here.