The fourth round didn't last as long as the previous rounds. This was highly appreciated by yours truly since it gave me the chance to follow the important football game between Sweden and Denmark. That it was a complete agony to watch the game is another story altogether.
Nigel Short once again had to face the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian. This time he chose to follow the theoretical main lines (6.Qf3 that he played against Grandelius was probably a one-time event). Tiger Hillarp Persson defended well although he spent a lot of time doing so. In time-trouble, Short tried to create complications with an exchange sacrifice but Hillarp kept his cool and steered the game into a rook ending where his activity compensated for being a pawn down. The Englishman chose to liquidate into a pawn ending even though he was surely aware that this was no more than a draw.
Playing Black in the Slav, Ivan Sokolov easily equalized against Tomi Nybäck. Sokolov tried to apply some pressure but Nybäck could easily, through some exchanges, claim a draw.
Nils Grandelius played a nice game against Emanuel Berg. The latter chose a dubious variation (10...d5) and never really equalized. Grandelius' bishop was stronger than Berg's knight and the pressure against f7 was troublesome. At the precise moment where Berg had to choose how to defend f7 it all went wrong. 25...Rf8 was necessary while 25...Rd7 (as played in the game) was met by the strong 26.Be6! which forced a pawn ending where the activity of White's king was decisive.
The last round pairings look very interesting. Sokolov can catch Short if he beats him and this also gives Grandelius the chance to share first place, if he manages to beat Hillarp with the black pieces.