Toronto: Grandmaster D Gukesh did well to hold top-seeded American Fabian Caruana to a draw but Vidit Gujrati suffered another defeat at the hands of Russia's Iya Nepomniachtchi in the fourth round of the Candidates Chess Tournament here.
The day R. Praggnananda played out an unexpected draw with Hikar Nakamura of the United States, Azerbaijan's Nizat Abbasov worked hard to share points with France's Firozha Alireza to stay in contention in the eighth eight-player double round-robin event . Decides the challenger for the next World Championship.
Nepomniachtchi became the sole leader in the event with three points after his second win with the white pieces and is now followed by Caruan and Gukesh with 2.5 points. Praggnanandhaa is also fourth with two points, while Gujarati, Abbasov, Alireza and Nakamura have the same 1.5 points each.In the women's category, R Vaishali ensured that her streak matched that of her younger brother Praggnananda as she drew with rating favorite Alexandra Goryachkina of Russia, but Koneru Humpy was the lowest seed and youngest participant. Suffered her first defeat at the hands of Nurgul Salimova. Bulgaria. Zhongyi Tan maintained her sole lead with three points after a draw with Russia's Kateryna Lagno, while China's Tingjie Lei signed peace with Ukraine's Ann Muzychuk.
In front of Tan, Goryachkina remains on 2.5 points and the trio of Vaishali, Salimova and Lagno are half a point behind. Humpy dropped to joint sixth place with Muzychuk and Lei with 1.5 points.
Gukesh faced the popular Italian Opening against Caruana as black and the players struggled in the main transitions.Gukesh was under some pressure in the middle game, but he sacrificed an excellent pawn, allowing a trade of human pieces. The upcoming final game with queens and pawns still gave Caruana some optical opportunities, but the Indian drew To be sure, he continued his defense for 72 moves.
Gujrati had won his second round game against Nakamur using the Berlin defence, so his opening choice against Nepomniachtchi was quite predictable.
The Russian, a veteran of two World Championship matches, having won the last two Candidates tournaments, however, had some ideas in the timely endgame which gave him a slight advantage. The Gujarati should have equalised, but constant pressure and a defeat against Praggnanandhaa in the previous round Probably had an impact on him, because he gradually got defeated in the endgame.Nepomniachtchi moved his king deep into the center of Black's position and when heavy material damage became inevitable, the gujarati called it a day.
Praggnanandhaa is earning praise and respect from his opponent with each passing round. Nakamura was no exception as he went for a safe version in the second Italian opening of the day. The players reached a balanced middle game where the American was happy to draw as White in only 24 moves. Abbasov had to give up a pawn against Alireza in the middle game, but his patience and determination paid off as hard work and long Despite trying for a long time, could only reach a drawn endgame between queens and pawns.Salimova, who proved her worth here through the Women's World Cup, had no luck. Humpy as Black faced a tough side from the Bulgarian in the Catalan Opening.
The Indian player took the game into uncharted territory by adopting a Dutch defense-like arrangement early in the middle game, but her attempts to attack the queen side were not successful. Salimova was on top with a few timely successes in the center and the queens' After the trade, he won a few pawns to maintain the lead. Nothing worked in Hampy's favor and it was all over in 62 moves.Vaishali went to defend Tarrash against Goryachkina and clearly the Russians were underprepared. As the middle game approached, the pieces were stacked and in no time, players reached the end of rooks and pawns with only three pawns. The draw was a fair result.
Lagno had a chance to get her first win against Tan, but failed to keep the momentum in her favor, while Lei had to fight for a long time again against Muzychuk before signing the peace. The fifth round will be played after the first rest day.There are still ten rounds left in the biggest event of the year.
Round 4 results (Indian unless specified): Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 3) def B Vidit Gujarati (1.5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 1.5) drew with R Praggnanandha (2), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2.5) drew with D Gukesh (2.5); Nizat Abbasov (AZ, 1.5) played a draw with Firozha Alireza (FRA, 1.5).
Women: Alexandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2.5) drew with R Vaishali (2); Nergyu Salimova (Bull, 2) beat Koneru Humpy (1.5); Katerina Lagno (Friday, 2) drew with Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 3); Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine, 1.5) drew with Tingjie Lei (CHN, 1.5) AM AM
The day R. Praggnananda played out an unexpected draw with Hikar Nakamura of the United States, Azerbaijan's Nizat Abbasov worked hard to share points with France's Firozha Alireza to stay in contention in the eighth eight-player double round-robin event . Decides the challenger for the next World Championship.
Nepomniachtchi became the sole leader in the event with three points after his second win with the white pieces and is now followed by Caruan and Gukesh with 2.5 points. Praggnanandhaa is also fourth with two points, while Gujarati, Abbasov, Alireza and Nakamura have the same 1.5 points each.In the women's category, R Vaishali ensured that her streak matched that of her younger brother Praggnananda as she drew with rating favorite Alexandra Goryachkina of Russia, but Koneru Humpy was the lowest seed and youngest participant. Suffered her first defeat at the hands of Nurgul Salimova. Bulgaria. Zhongyi Tan maintained her sole lead with three points after a draw with Russia's Kateryna Lagno, while China's Tingjie Lei signed peace with Ukraine's Ann Muzychuk.
In front of Tan, Goryachkina remains on 2.5 points and the trio of Vaishali, Salimova and Lagno are half a point behind. Humpy dropped to joint sixth place with Muzychuk and Lei with 1.5 points.
Gukesh faced the popular Italian Opening against Caruana as black and the players struggled in the main transitions.Gukesh was under some pressure in the middle game, but he sacrificed an excellent pawn, allowing a trade of human pieces. The upcoming final game with queens and pawns still gave Caruana some optical opportunities, but the Indian drew To be sure, he continued his defense for 72 moves.
Gujrati had won his second round game against Nakamur using the Berlin defence, so his opening choice against Nepomniachtchi was quite predictable.
The Russian, a veteran of two World Championship matches, having won the last two Candidates tournaments, however, had some ideas in the timely endgame which gave him a slight advantage. The Gujarati should have equalised, but constant pressure and a defeat against Praggnanandhaa in the previous round Probably had an impact on him, because he gradually got defeated in the endgame.Nepomniachtchi moved his king deep into the center of Black's position and when heavy material damage became inevitable, the gujarati called it a day.
Praggnanandhaa is earning praise and respect from his opponent with each passing round. Nakamura was no exception as he went for a safe version in the second Italian opening of the day. The players reached a balanced middle game where the American was happy to draw as White in only 24 moves. Abbasov had to give up a pawn against Alireza in the middle game, but his patience and determination paid off as hard work and long Despite trying for a long time, could only reach a drawn endgame between queens and pawns.Salimova, who proved her worth here through the Women's World Cup, had no luck. Humpy as Black faced a tough side from the Bulgarian in the Catalan Opening.
The Indian player took the game into uncharted territory by adopting a Dutch defense-like arrangement early in the middle game, but her attempts to attack the queen side were not successful. Salimova was on top with a few timely successes in the center and the queens' After the trade, he won a few pawns to maintain the lead. Nothing worked in Hampy's favor and it was all over in 62 moves.Vaishali went to defend Tarrash against Goryachkina and clearly the Russians were underprepared. As the middle game approached, the pieces were stacked and in no time, players reached the end of rooks and pawns with only three pawns. The draw was a fair result.
Lagno had a chance to get her first win against Tan, but failed to keep the momentum in her favor, while Lei had to fight for a long time again against Muzychuk before signing the peace. The fifth round will be played after the first rest day.There are still ten rounds left in the biggest event of the year.
Round 4 results (Indian unless specified): Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 3) def B Vidit Gujarati (1.5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 1.5) drew with R Praggnanandha (2), Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2.5) drew with D Gukesh (2.5); Nizat Abbasov (AZ, 1.5) played a draw with Firozha Alireza (FRA, 1.5).
Women: Alexandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2.5) drew with R Vaishali (2); Nergyu Salimova (Bull, 2) beat Koneru Humpy (1.5); Katerina Lagno (Friday, 2) drew with Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 3); Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine, 1.5) drew with Tingjie Lei (CHN, 1.5) AM AM
