The tie-breaks of Round 4 were played in the Ugra Chess Academy on September 22.

Two out of five matches were decided in rapid chess.

After Alexander Grischuk and Leinier Dominguez drew their first game, the Russian prevailed in the second one with White. Most likely his American vis-à-vis missed something in the complications arising after 24…c5. Grischuk emerged with a piece for two pawns, won the game and advanced to the quarters.

Ding Liren defeated Kirill Alekseenko i both rapid games and also progressed to the quarterfinals. His next opponent is none other than Alexander Grischuk.

Levon Aronian and Le Quang Liem drew both rapid games. Aronian, the defending champion of the World Cup, was at risk of losing the second game, but luck was on his side. Having caught the tailwind, the Armenian grandmaster was in full command in 10-minute games and advanced to the next round.

The Azerbaijani derby Mamedyarov - Radjabov started with two draws in rapid chess, although in the first game Teimour was on the ropes. The first 10-minute game also ended in a draw, however, the streak was broken in the next encounter, won by Teimour Radjabov with Black.

“It was probably the most annoying pairing. Whenever you win or lose, it is more or less the same. One of us had to qualify; this time it was me, but it was super-unpleasant pairing. We both had chances to get place for Azerbaijan in the upcoming Candidates if we would have been in the different brackets,” commented the winner on the psychological context of the match with his teammate and friend.

Jeffrey Xiong and Jan-Krzysztof Duda did not lose their fighting spirit on the tie-break day and went virtually all the way. The opponents exchanged blows in both rapid games and 10-minute games with all victories coming to a player with the white pieces. The first blitz game ended in a draw, but in the second one Xiong scored the victory and scraped through to the next stage.

The first games of the quarterfinals will be played on September 23.

Quarterfinals:

Grischuk - Ding Liren

Xiong - Radjabov

Aronian - Vachier-Lagrave

Vitiugov - Yu Yangyi

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The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation.

Official website: https://khantymansiysk2019.fide.com/en/

General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC.
Official airline – Utair.
Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft.
FIDE official partner – JSCo "RZD".
General media partner – News Agency TASS.
Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRC "Ugra", Ugra-news.ru News of Ugra regional newspaper, AIF-Ugra newspaper.