Toronto: Grandmaster D Gukesh became the only Indian to register a win by defeating Azerbaijan's Nizat Abbasov in a hard-fought fifth round of the FIDE Candidates chess tournament here, taking the lead along with Russia's Iya Nepomniachtchi.
With nine rounds still to go in the double round-robin event, Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi lead the pack with 3.5 points followed by top-seeded American Fabio Caruana, half a point behind them.
American Hikaru Nakamura was the second winner on the day against France's Firoza Alirez, while Indian teenager R Praggnanandhaa drew with top seed Nepomniachtchi.
Vidit Gujarati also ended his defeat by playing a draw with Caruana.
Praggnanandhaa and Nakamura are at the fourth position with 2.5 points each, while Gujarati is at the second position with two points.Alireza and Abbasov are in last place with 1.5 points.
In the women's competition, there was no change in terms of standings and all four games ended in draws.
Praggnanandha's sister R Vaishali Anna could not break Mujichu's defense and Koneru Humpy made a comeback by playing a draw against Russia's Alexandra Goryachkina.
Tournament leader Zhongyi Tan of China was held to a draw by the ever-improving Bulgaria's Nurgul Salimova and Russia's Kateryna Lagno settled with China's Tingjie Lei.
Tan remained in the lead after drawing Melli with 3.5 points in her kitty and Goryachkina reached 3 points and remained just behind the leader.Lagno, Vaishali and Salimova tied for third place with 2.5 points, half a point ahead of Humpy, Muzychuk and Lei.
Gukesh started with the king's pawn and faced Petroff's defence.
The Indian players ensured a complex middle game and had the lead until the players gained control for the first time. However, on the 40th move, Gukesh made a mistake which made it seem like a difficult game to walk in the park,
Abbasov fought hard and was close to a draw by the 80th move, but a mistake by the Azerbaijani on the 83rd move put the dice decisively in Gukesh's favor with the queen and an extra pawn at the end. The game lasted 87 moves.Praggnananda demonstrated his mastery of complexities against Nepomniachtchi.
It was another Petroff defense of the day in which the Indian first sacrificed a pawn and then made a spectacular knight sacrifice that gave him a terrible advantage.
As things turned out, it was clearly impossible to play like a machine in better position and once Praggnanandhaa traded queens, the game was tied at the end of rooks and pawns.
The Gujarati made a great start with a win over Nakamura in the second round, but after two defeats, it was time to hang on against favorite Caruana. Not failing in his aim, the Nashik-based player was solid and had a good run in the Rossolimo Variation. Got opportunities.
Caruana's Kings were caught in the middle and Gujarati also had to make machine-like moves to force the case.As time passed, it never got easier and the end result remained a draw through repetition.
Nakamura also got lucky against Alireza. A draw looked likely in the end but Alireza missed a simple strike that gave the American a much-needed win.
In the women's section, Vaishali was in bad shape after sacrificing a pawn against Muzychuk in the Italian opening game for white.
However, he kept himself in the game by keeping the position close and it ended in a draw.Humpy did not have much of an advantage against Goryachkina.
There was not much spice in the middle game of the Queen's Gambit and the game went into the endgame with rooks and small pieces. Once the smaller pieces are removed from the board, the players decide it is time to deal points.
Results Round 5 (Indians unless specified):
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Firozha Alireza (Fr, 1.5) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA); D Gukesh (3.5) to Nijat Abbasov (AZ, 1.5); Vidit Gujarathi (2) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3), R Praggnanandhaa (2.5) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FED, 3.5).Women: R Vaishali (2.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2); K Hampi (2) played out a draw with Alexandra Goryachkina (FID, 3); Zhouyi Tan (CHN, 3.5) played out a draw with Nergyu Salimova (BULL, 2.5); Tingjie Lei (Chn, 2) played a draw with Katarina Lagno (Fid, 2.5) or PM PM
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With nine rounds still to go in the double round-robin event, Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi lead the pack with 3.5 points followed by top-seeded American Fabio Caruana, half a point behind them.
American Hikaru Nakamura was the second winner on the day against France's Firoza Alirez, while Indian teenager R Praggnanandhaa drew with top seed Nepomniachtchi.
Vidit Gujarati also ended his defeat by playing a draw with Caruana.
Praggnanandhaa and Nakamura are at the fourth position with 2.5 points each, while Gujarati is at the second position with two points.Alireza and Abbasov are in last place with 1.5 points.
In the women's competition, there was no change in terms of standings and all four games ended in draws.
Praggnanandha's sister R Vaishali Anna could not break Mujichu's defense and Koneru Humpy made a comeback by playing a draw against Russia's Alexandra Goryachkina.
Tournament leader Zhongyi Tan of China was held to a draw by the ever-improving Bulgaria's Nurgul Salimova and Russia's Kateryna Lagno settled with China's Tingjie Lei.
Tan remained in the lead after drawing Melli with 3.5 points in her kitty and Goryachkina reached 3 points and remained just behind the leader.Lagno, Vaishali and Salimova tied for third place with 2.5 points, half a point ahead of Humpy, Muzychuk and Lei.
Gukesh started with the king's pawn and faced Petroff's defence.
The Indian players ensured a complex middle game and had the lead until the players gained control for the first time. However, on the 40th move, Gukesh made a mistake which made it seem like a difficult game to walk in the park,
Abbasov fought hard and was close to a draw by the 80th move, but a mistake by the Azerbaijani on the 83rd move put the dice decisively in Gukesh's favor with the queen and an extra pawn at the end. The game lasted 87 moves.Praggnananda demonstrated his mastery of complexities against Nepomniachtchi.
It was another Petroff defense of the day in which the Indian first sacrificed a pawn and then made a spectacular knight sacrifice that gave him a terrible advantage.
As things turned out, it was clearly impossible to play like a machine in better position and once Praggnanandhaa traded queens, the game was tied at the end of rooks and pawns.
The Gujarati made a great start with a win over Nakamura in the second round, but after two defeats, it was time to hang on against favorite Caruana. Not failing in his aim, the Nashik-based player was solid and had a good run in the Rossolimo Variation. Got opportunities.
Caruana's Kings were caught in the middle and Gujarati also had to make machine-like moves to force the case.As time passed, it never got easier and the end result remained a draw through repetition.
Nakamura also got lucky against Alireza. A draw looked likely in the end but Alireza missed a simple strike that gave the American a much-needed win.
In the women's section, Vaishali was in bad shape after sacrificing a pawn against Muzychuk in the Italian opening game for white.
However, he kept himself in the game by keeping the position close and it ended in a draw.Humpy did not have much of an advantage against Goryachkina.
There was not much spice in the middle game of the Queen's Gambit and the game went into the endgame with rooks and small pieces. Once the smaller pieces are removed from the board, the players decide it is time to deal points.
Results Round 5 (Indians unless specified):
,
Firozha Alireza (Fr, 1.5) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA); D Gukesh (3.5) to Nijat Abbasov (AZ, 1.5); Vidit Gujarathi (2) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3), R Praggnanandhaa (2.5) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FED, 3.5).Women: R Vaishali (2.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2); K Hampi (2) played out a draw with Alexandra Goryachkina (FID, 3); Zhouyi Tan (CHN, 3.5) played out a draw with Nergyu Salimova (BULL, 2.5); Tingjie Lei (Chn, 2) played a draw with Katarina Lagno (Fid, 2.5) or PM PM
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