Toronto: Grandmaster D. Gukesh of India through the Round 11 match towards Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana of USA on the FIDE Candidates 2024 chess match, in Toronto, Canada, on April 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Grandmaster D. Gukesh performed out a creditable draw towards high seed Fabiano Caruana however slipped a rung to the joint second place on a day when two different Indians endured irritating losses within the Candidates Chess Tournament’s eleventh spherical right here.
Nerves lastly got here into play as R. Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi misplaced their manner towards American Hikaru Nakamura and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi respectively.
But 17-year-old Gukesh held his personal towards Caruana. In the opposite encounter, Frenchman Firouza Alireza proved superior to Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan.
With simply three rounds remaining, the die appears to be forged in favour of Nepomniachtchi, who’s gunning for his third straight Candidates title.
The Russian, who has to compete underneath the FIDE flag right here owing to his nation’s worldwide suspension, shot again to the only real lead on seven factors out of a potential 11 and it will be troublesome for different contestants to get previous him.
Caruana, Nakamura and Gukesh are in pursuit of the chief half some extent behind within the standings.
Praggnanandhaa and Gujrathi have fallen aside with 5.5 and 5 factors respectively. Coming again from behind is Alireza, who in all probability has no contest from Abasov within the backside half.
In the ladies’s competitors, the Chinese continued to dominate as Zhongyi Tan scored over Kateryna Lagno of Russia to regain sole lead forward of compatriot Tingjie Lei, who performed out a draw with Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine.
R. Vaishali got here again roaring, albeit a bit late, to beat top-seeded Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina whereas Koneru Humpy proved too good to avenge her early loss by the hands of Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria.
Tan continued to reign supreme with seven factors. Lei stood half some extent behind, and the Russian duo of Lagno and Goryachkina had been just about out of the race together with a resurgent Humpy, who has warmed up in direction of the shut, with 5.5 factors.
Praggnanandhaa, who has been fairly fashionable among the many followers, performed with white and confronted an irregular queen pawn opening. For as soon as, the Indian didn’t appear to know a lot concerning the subtleties.
Nakamura took command when mandatory and it was a type of days for Praggnanandhaa when nothing went proper. The Indian misplaced a chunk trapped within the nook of the board and Nakamura was by no means going to let him get away with any lapses.
Gujrathi misplaced to Nepomniachtchi out of a Petroff defence. The opening has been serving nicely for the Russian since 2018 when he received his first Candidates match and it didn’t disappoint him.
The center recreation noticed Gujrathi on high greater than as soon as however Nepomniachtchi hung in there to his credit score.
Gujrathi had quite a lot of probabilities to come up victorious however one spoiler took over one other until Nepomniachtchi had the sport firmly in his grasp.
The Russian is a recognized technician and received a chunk for successfully no counter-play. The relaxation was straightforward.
Gukesh was the one one to maintain his nerves intact regardless of his tender age. The Queen’s gambit landed in a worse place for the gifted lad however he fought on to equalise towards Caruana within the ensuing queen and pawns endgame.
In the ladies’s part, Humpy skilfully received a pawn towards Salimova out of a queen pawn opening. The Bulgarian tried arduous for a counter-play however that didn’t occur and within the endgame, Humpy was class personified.
Liquidating right into a rook and pawns endgame, Humpy confirmed her true mettle and went on to rating a commendable victory.
For Vaishali it was a recreation of fluctuating fortunes during which she had a number of probabilities to power a draw. Goryachkina may need been happy with a drawn end result however Vaishali was on a mission within the Queen’s and pawns endgame. The recreation lasted 70 strikes.
Results spherical 11 (Indians until specified)
D. Gukesh (6.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 6); Vidit Gujrathi (5) misplaced to Ian Nepomniachtchi (Fid, 7); R Praggnanandhaa (5.5) misplaced to Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 6.5) (Aze, 3); Firouza Alireza (Fra, 4.5) beat Nijat Abasov (Aze, 3).
Women: Koneru Humpy (5.5) beat Nurgyul Salimova (Bul, 4); R Vaishali (4.5) beat Aleksandra Goryachkina (Fid, 5.5); Zhongyi Tan (7.5) beat Kateryna Lagno (Fid, 5.5); Tingjei Lei (Chn, 7) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 4.5).
