Grandmaster D Gukesh dropped out of joint first place after losing to Frenchman Firouza Alireza, but in the seventh round of the Candidates chess competition, teenage prodigy R Praggnanandhaa easily drew with American Fabiano Caruana.
The chess world witnessed a mixture of victories and difficulties for Indian players in the seventh round of the Candidates Chess Tournament, which was played amid fierce rivalry and big stakes. Let’s take a closer look at the exciting games and noteworthy plays that occurred on the board.
The teenage phenom D Gukesh had a setback when he lost to Frenchman Firouza Alireza in the event for the first time. After a bright beginning, Gukesh struggled with uncalled-for issues and ultimately let Alireza win the match. Gukesh thus dropped from equal first place to joint second place, sharing four points with Fabiano Caruana and R Praggnanandhaa.
After a draw with American Hikaru Nakamura, Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi recovered his razor-thin half-point lead, crawling to 4.5 points out of a potential seven at the halfway mark.
Following a draw with Nijat Abasov, Vidit Gujrathi increased his score to 3.5 points to tie Nakamura for fifth place, while Alireza slightly improved his score to 2.5 points to clinch seventh place. With two points, Abasov remains in the bottom spot.
R Vaishali appeared to have run out of steam in the women’s division as she lost the competition for the third time. On a day when the other three games finished in draws, Tingjie Lei of China proved to be too strong for the Indian.
Conversely, Praggnanandhaa shown his tenacity by drawing easily against the strong Fabiano Caruana. Praggnanandhaa kept the game balanced by using the French defense, which resulted in a calm finish with no breakthrough chances for either side. Praggnanandhaa’s standing in the competition was cemented by this outcome, which kept him in the running for the top slots.
In the meanwhile, following a draw with American Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi regained his lead in the tournament, edging ahead with 4.5 points. At the midway point of the match, Nepomniachtchi managed to hold onto his narrow half-point advantage despite a heroic defense from Nakamura.
R Vaishali had a difficult struggle in the women’s division when she lost to Tingjei Lei of China for the third time in the competition. Vaishali was unable to counter Lei’s strong king-side onslaught and eventually lost the game as a result of a Knight sacrifice. Vaishali’s prospects of winning the event decreased after this loss, as Zhongyi Tan of China kept her lead with five points.
Aleksandra Goryachkina held Zhongyi Tan to a draw, staying half a point behind the top, while Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk battled to draws against Koneru Humpy and Nurgyul Salimova, respectively.
Looking ahead, the players will prepare for the last seven rounds of the double round-robin competition after enjoying a much-needed rest day. The next challengers for the global championships are determined by every move made, as the competition heats up and the stakes are higher than ever.
Holy shit the end of that game was unreal. Gukesh loses to Alireza in the final seconds bth players blitzing out moves. Feel for Gukesh that was tough but fair play to Alireza for finding those wild moves to win. #FIDEcandidates #chess https://t.co/2Os2DYSRTC
— Kevin Williamson (@williamsonkev) April 11, 2024
In conclusion, as players maneuvered through fierce fights on the board in an effort to leave their marks on chess history, the seventh round of the Candidates Chess Tournament demonstrated the unwavering quest of success and the harsh character of the game. The chess community watches with bated breath for the drama to intensify and for new champions to emerge as the competition goes on.
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