Four players in contention
Two rounds ago, six players remained in contention for first place in a very close race at the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. On Wednesday and Thursday, though, Praggnanandhaa R and Vidit Gujrathi suffered losses that left them out of the fight going into the final two rounds of the event.
In round 11, Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbed the sole lead by achieving a 67-move victory in his dramatic encounter against Vidit. Then, in round 12, Hikaru Nakamura and Gukesh D caught up with the Russian grandmaster by defeating Alireza Firouzja and Nijat Abasov, respectively. The three co-leaders are tied for first place with 7½ points each (a plus-three score).
Thursday’s round also saw Fabiano Caruana beating Vidit to remain in contention going forward, as he now stands a half point behind the leaders. Following a painful loss against Nakamura, Caruana scored wins the next two times he played with the white pieces. Importantly, the top seed is set to face Nepomniachtchi — with white — in the final round.
The player who will enter the deciding rounds with the most momentum surely is Nakamura, who scored three consecutive wins in rounds 10-12. In fact, the last time the famous streamer signed a draw in the event was in the seventh round, when he split a point with Nepomniachtchi — he went on to beat Caruana and lose to Vidit in rounds 8 and 9, before scoring the hat-trick that left him tied for first.
Out of the three co-leaders, Nakamura is also the player who has collected the most wins so far in the event (and the most losses, of course), with 5 victories and 2 losses to his name. Gukesh has suffered 1 loss, while Nepomniachtchi is the only participant to remain undefeated in Toronto (in either of the two categories).
Find below the pairings of the final two rounds, set to take place on Saturday and Sunday. In case of a tie for first place, all participants sharing the lead will play a rapid (and blitz, if necessary) tiebreaker on Monday.
| Round 13 on 2024/04/20 at 14:30 | |||||||||||
| Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2758 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | GM | Nakamura, Hikaru | 2789 | ||||||
| 2747 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2803 | ||||||
| 2727 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Abasov, Nijat | 2632 | ||||||
| 2743 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | 2760 | ||||||
| Round 14 on 2024/04/21 at 14:30 | |||||||||||
| Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | |||||||
| 2789 | GM | Nakamura, Hikaru | GM | Gukesh, D | 2743 | ||||||
| 2760 | GM | Firouzja, Alireza | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2727 | ||||||
| 2632 | GM | Abasov, Nijat | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2747 | ||||||
| 2803 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2758 | ||||||
Results – Round 12
Attack like a Super Grandmaster
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM†with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Will Gukesh become a World Championship challenger at 17? | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Nakamura 1 – 0 Firouzja
Analysis by André Schulz
Hikaru Nakamura obtained a third win in a row on Thursday | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Expert analysis by GM Daniel King
Abasov 0 – 1 Gukesh
Analysis by André Schulz
Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Nijat Abasov | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Caruana 1 – 0 Vidit
Analysis by André Schulz
Calculation Training – Sharpen Your Game!
In Calculation Training – Sharpen Your Game! a total of 73 examples have been selected, the vast majority containing multiple questions, and more than 160 questions of varying difficulty.
Fabiano Caruana | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Expert analysis by IM Robert Ris
Standings after round 12
All games
A completely exhausted Ian Nepomniachtchi!
Vaishali and her mother, Nagalakshmi
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