By Steve Giddins

In his distinguished career, Vladimir Kramnik has never yet won Wijk aan Zee, but today he took a giant step towards doing so, by beating Carlsen with Black. A fascinating battle ended with a colossal time-trouble blunder by the world number one.

Kramnik's win, his third in four rounds, took him to +4 and a share of the lead. Earlier in the afternoon, Shirov had achieved the same score, after notching the easiest of draws against Ivanchuk, with a remarkable piece of computer-based preparation.

The other key game as far as the leadership is concerned was the clash between Nakamua and Kariakin. This saw the former drop to his second straight loss, whilst Kariakin, conversely, won his second in a row.

All in all, it was a bad day for youthful tournament favourites. In Group B, Anish Giri suffered his first defeat of the event, losing to Anna Muzychuk, whilst in the C Group, long-time leader Ray Robson lost to his principal rival, Li Chao. With Ni Hua and L'Ami both winning with Black, Giri's lead is cut to half a point, whilst Robson now falls to second place, behind Li Chao.

From Chessbase.com