Round 4 started off like the last two rounds: draw, draw, draw. The last game to finish (by a long way) reintroduced the concept of the decisive game, as Michael Adams outlasted Boris Gelfand in a 117-move marathon. After 51 moves, White had a two pawn advantage in a rook and knight ending, and although it was clear that Black could resist for many moves, it was just as clear that White should eventually win.
For many moves, Adams made slow but steady progress. After 101 moves, both players still had a rook and a knight, but White had the only pawns, both passed (a c- and an f-pawn) on the fifth rank, while Black's king and knight were pinned down on the back rank. Adams continued to do everything right through his 107th move, but then, on the verge of a clear win, his 108th move probably threw away the win and his 112th move clearly did.
When playing against strong opponents, I've occasionally reminded myself that it isn't only me who makes mistakes; my opponents do - and will - too, and part of my job is to keep my eyes open to capitalize when those errors occur. I would add that this mindset is fundamental when trying to defend bad-to-lost positions: to err is human, and if given enough problems to solve, one's opponents will eventually slip on the banana peel.
That's what happened here, but alas! Errare humanum est applies to everyone, and with just one last move to find before the draw would be obvious, Gelfand returned the hard-earned half a point.
Brutal.
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Standings after Round 4:
Adams, Leko, Svidler 2.5 (The Petrine hegemony starts to crack.)
Aronian, Kramnik 2
Gelfand, Jobava, Naiditsch 1.5
Pairings for Round 5: (After yet another rest day!)
Leko-Aronian
Gelfand-Jobava
Kramnik-Adams
Naiditsch-Svidler