Firouzja bounces back
After Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbed the sole lead in round 4 of the Candidates Tournament, we pointed out that the Russian GM had similarly climbed to sole first place in the tournament’s previous edition (which he ended up winning). Three rounds later, Nepomniachtchi regained the sole lead thanks to Firouzja’s victory over former co-leader Gukesh D.
Nepo was also the sole leader at the halfway mark in Madrid, though back then he had impressively collected 5½ points by round 7 (he beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Ding Liren in rounds 5 and 6), while he is now atop the standings ‘only’ with 4½ points to his name.
If we continue looking for coincidences between the two editions, we note that Fabiano Caruana also stood a half point behind Nepo in 2022 — back then, though, he was in sole second place, while now he is tied for second with Praggnanandhaa R and Gukesh D.
Two other parallelisms can be made between the events in Madrid and Toronto: i.e. the number of points achieved by Firouzja and Hikaru Nakamura after seven rounds of play. Nakamura finished the first half of both events with 3½ points, while an out-of-form Firouzja collected 2½ points on both occasions.
Firouzja signed 3 draws and suffered 3 losses in the first six rounds of the tournament in Toronto. After a painful loss against Vidit on Wednesday, though, the 20-year-old bounced immediately back with a victory over Gukesh. Since Nepo did not have a first half as strong as his first half in Madrid, Firouzja stands not 3 but 2 points behind the leader this time around — still with outside (yet realistic) chances of fighting for the title.
Results – Round 7
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.
A half point behind the leader — Fabiano Caruana drew Praggnanandhaa with white in the seventh round | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Firouzja 1 – 0 Gukesh
Analysis by André Schulz
Dommaraju Gukesh | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Nakamura ½ – ½ Nepomniachtchi
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.
On his way to a third Candidates victory in a row? — Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Expert analysis by IM Robert Ris
Standings after round 7
All games
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