Candidates; Gukesh last man standing, Pragg & Gujrathi’s chances suffer blow

PTI

Toronto, April 19

Teenaged Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh produced another fantastic performance to crash through the defences of Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov and regain a share of the lead but R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi bowed out of contention after the 12th round of the Candidates chess tournament here.

With American Hikaru Nakamura scoring a victory over Firouzja Alireza of France, it is now a three-way lead at the top.

Gukesh and Nakamura joined overnight leader Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, who drew with Praggnanandhaa, on 7.5 points and the three are now followed by Fabiano Caruana of the United States, who is on seven points.

Praggnanandhaa is still fifth with six points with Gujrathi following him on five points.

However, with just two rounds to come in the eight-player double round-robin tournament, it is almost impossible for the duo to finish on the podium. Alireza and Abasov fill up the rear of the table with 4.5 and three points, respectively.

In the women’s section, the Chinese domination was cemented by Zhongyi Tan, who played out a draw with Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria.

Russian Kateryna Lagno was only able to squeeze out half-a-point against another Chinese Tingjie Lei.

India’s Koneru Humpy did well to hold Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia to a draw, while R Vaishali scored her second straight victory at the expense of Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine.

While Tan on eight points, Lei is half-a-point behind. The trio of Humpy, Lagno and Goryachkina are a distant third with six points. Vaishali moved to 5.5 points to take the sixth spot, ahead of Salimova and Muzychuk.

Teen spirit

The 17-year-old Gukesh is only the second-youngest in history to ever compete in the Candidates and the last time someone younger played was way back in 1959 — when Bobby Fischer stormed into the chess world.

Black against Abasov and needing a victory desperately, the Indian did not disappoint in the Nimzo Indian defence game wherein the Azerbaijani was outwitted in all departments of the game.

Choosing side variations wisely has been a hallmark of Gukesh’s strategy throughout the event and yet again, he came out on top.

Abasov may have thought he was better but as the game progressed into the middle game, Gukesh made some perfect manoeuvres to reach an endgame where white reeled under pressure with pawn weaknesses.

Gukesh won a pawn on the queen side and in the ensuing minor pieces endgame, his passed pawns were clearly superior.

Nepomniachtchi has been handling the tournament smartly and almost without any risks.

Against Praggnanandhaa, the Russian took no chances despite playing white. The French defence led to a level-playing field for both and with every piece exchange the position became simpler. It was a rook and pawns endgame on board, which was a dead draw.

Gujrathi suffered another defeat, losing to Caruana out of an Italian opening game where the latter played white.

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