Round 4 started with a significant number of drawn games. Some lasted little over an hour (Leko v Erigaisi) while some went well into the 5th hour. While all the games I was supervising ended peacefully, there were 2 games that ended in wins. One was by Lev Aronian, who played a sneaky trick in the opening. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 he played 3.a3! The automatic reaction of 3. ... d5 creates a reverse Scotch but after 4.exd Nxd5 5.Qh5! causes issues as the normal move (with colours reversed) of Nb4 is ruled out due to a3! So Lev pocketed a pawn and went on the win the game. Again it is a little surprising that it worked as it has been well known since the 60's or 70's, and was mentioned by the late Hugh E Meyers in one of his quirky opening books.
But with 14 of the 16 games ending in a draw the odds of a significant number of playoff matches is high. Maybe players with the White pieces will push a bit harder tomorrow, or maybe they'll just halve out and head for tie-breaks.
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