Chess: US grandmaster duo surge as Candidates nears finish in Toronto
The USA’s world Nos 2 and 3 grandmasters, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, have launched a late surge as the Candidates in Toronto reaches its final four rounds. The €500k tournament will decide which of its eight contestants challenges China’s Ding Liren for his world title later this year.
Caruana, 31, and Nakamura, 36, have lagged behind the front runners, Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, 33, and India’s 17-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju, for most of the event.
Caruana was unbeaten, but lacked his usual sharpness, while Nakamura suffered two costly losses to India’s Vidit Gujrathi.
Monday’s tenth round (of 14) brought crucial victories for the US pair as both won after long, complex, and fluctuating battles. Nakamura defeated Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov, while Caruana outplayed France’s Alireza Firouzja in his best strategic style.
The race is close, and is likely to go to the 14th and final round on Sunday, or even to speed tie-breaks on Monday. Games start at 7.30pm BST on all days, and there is free and live coverage with grandmaster and computer commentaries on major chess websites as well as on the official channel.
After 10 rounds (of 14) Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and Gukesh (India) led on 6/10, followed by Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India), Nakamura and Caruana (US) all 5.5, Vidit (India) 5. The leaders played a cagey draw in round 10, after Gukesh chose a defence to the Ruy López 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nge7 (instead of Nf6).
Tuesday is a rest day, followed by round 11 on Wednesday when the top pairing will be Gukesh v Caruana.
The Women’s Candidates, to find a challenger to the world champion Ju Wenjun, has effectively become China v Russia: Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie (both China) have 6.5/10, ahead of Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno (both Russia) 5.5. Four other women trail behind.
Tan scored the fastest win of the tournament in round nine when the bottom marker Vaishali Rameshbabu (India) blundered into defeat in just 21 moves. The opening is well worth a look as Tan secured easy equality with an unusual counter to the 2 c3 Sicilian, which is popular in English club chess and online games.
Nepomniachtchi, who won both the 2020-21 and 2022 Candidates, has the remarkable record of having led, alone or jointly, in all 38 rounds of the three events. This time his margin of superiority has been slim and he was unable to win either of his games against the tail-ender from Azerbaijan, Nijat Abasov.
Gukesh, 17, has been the revelation of the Candidates, and is now in serious contention to become the youngest world champion in chess history, a record currently held by Garry Kasparov at age 22. The teenager had been considered an outsider due to his youth and his unstable performances in the months leading up to the event. At the London Classic in December, he finished only third behind England’s Michael Adams. In Toronto his only loss was an unlucky one against Firouzja, where his subsequent despair was captured on video.