Toronto: Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh continues to hold the joint top spot with Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi after playing an easy draw in the 10th round of the Candidates Chess Tournament here.
The all-India duel between R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi also ended in a draw, while Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura made comebacks by a good distance from the leaders by defeating Firozha Alireza and Nizat Abbasov respectively.
With just four rounds left in the biggest event of the year, Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi are on the same six points, while Praggnanandhaa, Caruan and Nakamura are half a point behind them.
Gujarati, with six points, is in sixth place, while for all practical purposes, Alirez and Abbasov are out of the race with 3.5 and two points respectively.
Nepomniachtchi isn't taking much risk in either event with Kolou and his solid play makes him the only player who is undefeated after 10 rounds.White Ruy Lopez gave the Russians only an optical advantage after the opening and 17-year-old Gukesh ensured parity with a few timely exchanges, leading to the end of rooks and pawns.
Apart from the early part the contest was almost uneventful and in the final game, players exchanged another pair of rooks and some pawns to reach a theoretically drawn position.
Praggnanandhaa has also been very strong with his only loss coming early in the second round against Gukesh. The 18-year-old faced Gujarati from Berlin who easily matched black.
With three minor pieces and the queen quickly off the board, the rook and opposite-suited bishop endgame gave no chance to either player.The game was drawn after 39 moves.
Caruana faced the Sicilian Najdorf and capitalized on a side variation by Alireza. The players ignored a simple strategy but Caruana ultimately led the game after winning a pawn on the 29th move. Alireza struggled but the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
Nakamura shifted from the Petroff Defense to the French Pose and put pressure on the queenside.At one point in a complex middle game, Abbasov missed the thread of positio and lost a rook to the bishop. The rest was just a matter of time and the American ended the issue in 58 moves.
In the women's category, China's Tinjie Lei ended Russia's Aleksandra Goryachkina's unbeaten streak and shared the lead with compatriot Zhongyi Tan, who played out a draw with Koneru Humpy.
R Vaishali bounced back from consecutive losses in a topsy-turvy game with Bulgaria's Nurgul Salimov, while Russia's Kateryna Lagno played out a draw with Ukraine's Anna Muzichu.
With 6.5 points, the Chinese pair of Lei and Tan are in a good position with a full point lead over Goryachkina and Lagno.Humpy is in fifth place with 4.5 points, half a point ahead of Salimova, Muzychuk and Vaishali, despite the win she is still in last place with 3. points.
To keep its chances alive, Hampi had to win and even though it tried hard, Ta proved difficult to overcome.
The battle lasted 72 moves and in the end the Chinese shared the points.
Vaishali played a game of fluctuating fortunes against Salimova outside the Grunfeld defense game. Salimova had the advantage in the middle game but Vaishali struggled while the Indian managed to turn the tables despite a mistake in the final game.The game lasted 88 moves.
Tuesday is a day of rest and the fight will resume on Wednesday.
Round 10 results (Indians unless specified):
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Ian Nepomniachtchi (6) drew with D Gukesh (6); R Praggnanand (5.5) played out a draw with Vidit Gujrati (5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5.5) defeated Nizat Abbasov (AZ, 3), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5.5) defeated Firozha Alireza (FR, 3.5).
Women: Nurgual Salimova (Bull, 4) lost to R Vaishali (3.5); Zhongyi Tan (6.5 played a draw with Koneru Humpy (4.5); Alexandra Goryachkina (RUS, 5.5) lost to Tingze Lei (CHN, 6.5); Katarina Lagno (FIDE, 5.5) played out a draw with Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 4).or PM PM
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The all-India duel between R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi also ended in a draw, while Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura made comebacks by a good distance from the leaders by defeating Firozha Alireza and Nizat Abbasov respectively.
With just four rounds left in the biggest event of the year, Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi are on the same six points, while Praggnanandhaa, Caruan and Nakamura are half a point behind them.
Gujarati, with six points, is in sixth place, while for all practical purposes, Alirez and Abbasov are out of the race with 3.5 and two points respectively.
Nepomniachtchi isn't taking much risk in either event with Kolou and his solid play makes him the only player who is undefeated after 10 rounds.White Ruy Lopez gave the Russians only an optical advantage after the opening and 17-year-old Gukesh ensured parity with a few timely exchanges, leading to the end of rooks and pawns.
Apart from the early part the contest was almost uneventful and in the final game, players exchanged another pair of rooks and some pawns to reach a theoretically drawn position.
Praggnanandhaa has also been very strong with his only loss coming early in the second round against Gukesh. The 18-year-old faced Gujarati from Berlin who easily matched black.
With three minor pieces and the queen quickly off the board, the rook and opposite-suited bishop endgame gave no chance to either player.The game was drawn after 39 moves.
Caruana faced the Sicilian Najdorf and capitalized on a side variation by Alireza. The players ignored a simple strategy but Caruana ultimately led the game after winning a pawn on the 29th move. Alireza struggled but the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
Nakamura shifted from the Petroff Defense to the French Pose and put pressure on the queenside.At one point in a complex middle game, Abbasov missed the thread of positio and lost a rook to the bishop. The rest was just a matter of time and the American ended the issue in 58 moves.
In the women's category, China's Tinjie Lei ended Russia's Aleksandra Goryachkina's unbeaten streak and shared the lead with compatriot Zhongyi Tan, who played out a draw with Koneru Humpy.
R Vaishali bounced back from consecutive losses in a topsy-turvy game with Bulgaria's Nurgul Salimov, while Russia's Kateryna Lagno played out a draw with Ukraine's Anna Muzichu.
With 6.5 points, the Chinese pair of Lei and Tan are in a good position with a full point lead over Goryachkina and Lagno.Humpy is in fifth place with 4.5 points, half a point ahead of Salimova, Muzychuk and Vaishali, despite the win she is still in last place with 3. points.
To keep its chances alive, Hampi had to win and even though it tried hard, Ta proved difficult to overcome.
The battle lasted 72 moves and in the end the Chinese shared the points.
Vaishali played a game of fluctuating fortunes against Salimova outside the Grunfeld defense game. Salimova had the advantage in the middle game but Vaishali struggled while the Indian managed to turn the tables despite a mistake in the final game.The game lasted 88 moves.
Tuesday is a day of rest and the fight will resume on Wednesday.
Round 10 results (Indians unless specified):
,
Ian Nepomniachtchi (6) drew with D Gukesh (6); R Praggnanand (5.5) played out a draw with Vidit Gujrati (5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 5.5) defeated Nizat Abbasov (AZ, 3), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5.5) defeated Firozha Alireza (FR, 3.5).
Women: Nurgual Salimova (Bull, 4) lost to R Vaishali (3.5); Zhongyi Tan (6.5 played a draw with Koneru Humpy (4.5); Alexandra Goryachkina (RUS, 5.5) lost to Tingze Lei (CHN, 6.5); Katarina Lagno (FIDE, 5.5) played out a draw with Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 4).or PM PM
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