TORONTO: Indian grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh will look to close the gap with Russian leader Ian Nepomniachtchi when they resume their campaign in the eighth round of the Candidates Chess Tournament here.
When the tournament resumes on Saturday, teenage sensation Praggnananda will face France's Firozha Alireza, while Gukesh will face compatriot Vidit Gujarati.
While all three Indians have done well in the open section so far, it is defending champion Nepomniachtchi who is in prime position to complete a hat-trick of titles at the halfway stage.
With 4.5 points in his account, Nepomniachtchi will be happy with his performance and stands as the favorite with half a point more than nearest rivals Praggnanandhaan, Gukesh and top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States.
The Gujarati, who has scored 3.5 points, has been known to rise towards the end of the tournament and can be expected to perform strongly in the second half along with Hikaru Nakamura, who is tied with him at fifth.Alireza is seventh with 2.5 points, half a point ahead of Azerbaijan's Nizat Abbasov.
It has been a story of less hits and more misses for the Indian trio.
Earlier in the event, Gujarati had clearly defeated Caruana and was looking strong against Abbasov before being held to a draw in the previous round as well.
Gukesh had also enjoyed a good position against Alireza in the previous round and the Frenchman was under a lot of pressure as time passed.
However, luck was not on Gukesh's side and there were some serious mistakes on his part to hand the points to Alireza.Praggnanandhaa is very strong and has shown tremendous preparation here. His black-piece draw with Caruana in the French defense shows tremendous confidence and his win over Gujarati earlier has already shown his ability to take risks.
The previous match against Alireza was a draw and Praggnananda will look to make good use of his white pieces in the return game.
“I am playing quite well and am happy with the quality,” Praggnanandhaa said.
He immediately described his win against Gujarati as his favorite win so far."It was very important to perform well after the loss."
Gukesh will have the dark pieces against Gujarati, who is likely to be the focus of many eyes in the live telecast.
For the record, Nepomniachtchi and Caruana are the only two unbeaten players at the halfway stage.
In the last two attempts that they had won, Nepomniachtchi was leading after fifty percent of the games which is no different this time.
However, Caruana is a player who can move into top gear at any time and his fans are just waiting for that to happen.The Indian challenge in the women's category has not lived up to expectations. Many believed that Connery Humpy's experience and R Vaishali's fearless play could come in handy for both, but its impact is yet to be seen in the first seven matches.
Both are currently at the bottom of the table with 2.5 points each, while tournament leader Zhongyi Tan has five points.
Following Zhongyi Tan is Russia's Alexandra Goryachkina and it looks like the battle for the crown is between these two players.
However, just a few quick wins can still push the Indians further, and that would be something they would be hoping for.Pairings Round 8 (Indians unless specified): R Praggnanandhaa (4) v Firoz Alireza (Fr, 2.5); Vidit Gujarati (3.5) vs D Gukesh (4); Hikaru Nakamura (USA 3.5) vs. Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4); Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 4.5) vs Nijat Abaso (AZ, 2).
Women: Zhongyi Tan (5) vs. Tingjie Lei (CHN, 4); Koneru Humpy (2.5) vs R Vaishal (2.5); Draw with Nurgul Salimova (Bull, 3) vs Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2.5) over the hump (2.5); Lagno Caterina (FIDE, 4) vs. Alexandra Gorychkina (FIDE, 4.5).
When the tournament resumes on Saturday, teenage sensation Praggnananda will face France's Firozha Alireza, while Gukesh will face compatriot Vidit Gujarati.
While all three Indians have done well in the open section so far, it is defending champion Nepomniachtchi who is in prime position to complete a hat-trick of titles at the halfway stage.
With 4.5 points in his account, Nepomniachtchi will be happy with his performance and stands as the favorite with half a point more than nearest rivals Praggnanandhaan, Gukesh and top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States.
The Gujarati, who has scored 3.5 points, has been known to rise towards the end of the tournament and can be expected to perform strongly in the second half along with Hikaru Nakamura, who is tied with him at fifth.Alireza is seventh with 2.5 points, half a point ahead of Azerbaijan's Nizat Abbasov.
It has been a story of less hits and more misses for the Indian trio.
Earlier in the event, Gujarati had clearly defeated Caruana and was looking strong against Abbasov before being held to a draw in the previous round as well.
Gukesh had also enjoyed a good position against Alireza in the previous round and the Frenchman was under a lot of pressure as time passed.
However, luck was not on Gukesh's side and there were some serious mistakes on his part to hand the points to Alireza.Praggnanandhaa is very strong and has shown tremendous preparation here. His black-piece draw with Caruana in the French defense shows tremendous confidence and his win over Gujarati earlier has already shown his ability to take risks.
The previous match against Alireza was a draw and Praggnananda will look to make good use of his white pieces in the return game.
“I am playing quite well and am happy with the quality,” Praggnanandhaa said.
He immediately described his win against Gujarati as his favorite win so far."It was very important to perform well after the loss."
Gukesh will have the dark pieces against Gujarati, who is likely to be the focus of many eyes in the live telecast.
For the record, Nepomniachtchi and Caruana are the only two unbeaten players at the halfway stage.
In the last two attempts that they had won, Nepomniachtchi was leading after fifty percent of the games which is no different this time.
However, Caruana is a player who can move into top gear at any time and his fans are just waiting for that to happen.The Indian challenge in the women's category has not lived up to expectations. Many believed that Connery Humpy's experience and R Vaishali's fearless play could come in handy for both, but its impact is yet to be seen in the first seven matches.
Both are currently at the bottom of the table with 2.5 points each, while tournament leader Zhongyi Tan has five points.
Following Zhongyi Tan is Russia's Alexandra Goryachkina and it looks like the battle for the crown is between these two players.
However, just a few quick wins can still push the Indians further, and that would be something they would be hoping for.Pairings Round 8 (Indians unless specified): R Praggnanandhaa (4) v Firoz Alireza (Fr, 2.5); Vidit Gujarati (3.5) vs D Gukesh (4); Hikaru Nakamura (USA 3.5) vs. Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4); Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 4.5) vs Nijat Abaso (AZ, 2).
Women: Zhongyi Tan (5) vs. Tingjie Lei (CHN, 4); Koneru Humpy (2.5) vs R Vaishal (2.5); Draw with Nurgul Salimova (Bull, 3) vs Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2.5) over the hump (2.5); Lagno Caterina (FIDE, 4) vs. Alexandra Gorychkina (FIDE, 4.5).
