Grandmaster Gukesh D plays against Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura at the FIDE Candidates 2024 chess tournament, in Toronto, Canada
Credit: PTI Photo
The first half of the FIDE Candidates Chess 2024 was enthralling and entertaining with plenty of twists and turns. Ian Nepomniachtchi, eyeing a hat-trick of Challenger titles, broke away slightly from the eight player pack to lead with 4.5 points after seven games.
The FIDE Candidates Chess tournament is an elite, eight-player, Double Round Robin event where the winner earns the right to Challenge the World Champion for the title.
All the three Indians in the fray, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, were impressive and are now among the highest rated players in fray. At the start of the event, they were all rated in the bottom half.
This was the tally at exactly the mid-way mark, with Friday scheduled as the second rest day.
Fabiano Caruana, Gukesh and Pragg are trailing within striking distance — a miniscule half point lead separating them from Nepomniachtchi.
Vidit and Hikaru Nakamura have logged 3.5 points while Alireza Firouzja follows next with 2.5 points. Nijat Abasoc brings up the rear with 1.5 points.
Interestingly all the 3 Indians along with Nepomniachtchi have scored maximum victories, two each.
Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, the official commentator for the FIDE Candidates Chess 2024 was all praise for the 3 Indians and remarked that the event was still wide open.
“The Candidates has been very dramatic so far and the fans and enthusiasts have thoroughly enjoyed the games. Even though we have two clear leaders in both sections, the chasing pack is within touching distance and with unpredictable results every-day, the rest of the event should be pretty exciting as well," he said.
The Women’s section has been a disappointing one, from the Indian angle as our best bet, Koneru Humpy, has been in poor form and debutant Vaishali R also failing to perform above her rating.
Humpy is yet to claim a win and has drawn five of her games. Both of them are languishing at the bottom and it is a Herculean task for them to make a comeback now.
Tan Zhongyi, rated 5th here, has been the surprise package as she raced away to sole leader status with 5 points. Alexandra Goryachkina has also been in good form to log 4.5 points. Kateryna Lahno and Lei Tingjie follow next with 4 points each. Nurgyul Salimova has tallied 3 points while Humpy, Anna Muzychuk and Humpy have 2.5 points each in their kitty.
Gukesh, all of 17 years, has easily been the star of the tournament and was in joint lead with Nepomniachtchi till the seventh round. An uncharacteristic and stunning loss in a good position had him slipping down to trail the leader by half a point.
A victory would have meant taking the sole lead and taking the rest day with a good mental disposition. Gukesh has played four Whites in the first half and has three whites against Caruana Alireza and Pragg.
Pragg’s phenomenal talent has always been complimented with his ability to shrug off defeats without much fanfare and he once again amply demonstrated this after a stunning loss to compatriot Vidit in the second round.
In the next five rounds he craftily changed his openings and though a trifle unlucky in not converting a couple of winning positions to a victory, Pragg has made a commendable comeback to trail the leader by just half a point. He will enjoy white pieces with Caruana, Alireza, Vidit and Nakamura.
Vidit’s journey has been a volatile one, interspersed with two wins, two losses and three draws. He too has missed a couple of striking opportunities. But there is just a one point difference between him and the leader. Vidit has Whites against Abasov, Gukesh, Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi.
The 32-year-old Fabiano, the highest rated player here has been going slow and steady without any risk scoring a lone victory against tail ender Abasov. Caruana’s game may not have bordered on the brilliance, but his defence has so far been impregnable. Nepomniachtchi may have emerged as sole leader but has not been at his best.
Round 8 Pairings
Men's section
Hikaru Nakamura (3.5) vs Fabiano Caruana (4)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (4.5) Vs Nijat Abasov (1.5)
Praggnanandhaa(4) versus Alireza Ferouzja (2.5)
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (3.5) 2.5) vs D Gukesh (4)
Women’s section
Kateryna Lagno (4) vs Aleksandra Goryachkina (4.5)
Nurgyul Salimova (3) vs Anna Muzychuk (2.5)
Tan Zhongyi (5) vs Lei Tingjie (4)
Koneru Humpy (2.5) vs Vaishali R (2.5)