Candidates Tournament 2024, Round 9: Vidit Beats Nakamura Again, Gukesh Draws

2 weeks ago 104

After a string of underwhelming results, Vidit Gujrathi returned to his best in the ninth round of the 2024 Candidates Tournament, completing the double over Hikaru Nakamura. India’s teen prodigies D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa could not be separated, whilst the latter’s sister, R Vaishali succumbed to a defeat. Meanwhile, Koneru Humpy played out her sixth draw of the competition.

Beyond doubts and deliberations, Vidit was the showstopper of the day, winning against Hikaru Nakamura only nine days after he had halted the American’s 47-game unbeaten streak in classical chess. In a game where Nakamura opted for the Two Knights Defense, Vidit not only had to tackle time pressure – a consistent feature for the Indian Grandmaster all throughout this event – but also catch his opponent off-guard with his middle-game and endgame strategy, as Nakamura eventually had to concede defeat after 36 moves.

Gukesh, on the contrary, could not do what Vidit did to Nakamura – do a double over fellow Indian compatriot R Praggnanandhaa. In a Ruy Lopez game, there was hardly anything to differentiate the pair, with Praggnanandhaa having an answer for everything that was thrown his way. After 41 moves, a draw emerged as the only plausible outcome.

Whilst Vidit was the only player who got a win in this round, R Vaishali became the solitary player to lose a game, as her campaign continued to worsen. Against Tan Zhongyi, who seemed desperate to reclaim first place after not being at her lethal best in the last few rounds, Vaishali could barely last 21 moves before waving the white flag.

The game between Koneru Humpy and Kateryna Lagno, however, was a more complicated affair where both players had their chances of potentially inching closer to a win, but a draw was the outcome.

Among the major subplots from the ninth round was the game between Alireza Firouzja and Ian Nepomniachtchi – for not one, but a couple of reasons. Firstly, Firouzja opted for a rather rare opening at this level of the sport – the Zukertort opening transitioning into the Larsen opening, something none of the other 15 participants has tried so far. Nepomniachtchi, however, put a strong defensive display to counter Firouzja’s strategy as the result was a draw. Barring the opening, what also became a talking point from the game was Firouzja’s complaints against the arbiter, claiming he was told to stop walking as his shoes were making too much of a noise.

Nijat Abasov continues to punch above his weight in this tournament. While the lowest-seeded player in the open section is yet to win a match, he secured his sixth draw by halting Fabiano Caruana on his tracks, as the American’s topsy-turvy campaign took a turn for the worse.

In the women’s section, Lei Tingjie could not secure what would have been her fourth consecutive victory, despite once being in an advantageous position, as Nurgyul Salimova effectively recovered lost ground to get a draw. Similarly, Aleksandra Goryachkina could not capitalise on an early advantage, ending up drawing against Anna Muzychuk.

Candidates Tournament 2024, Round 9 Results:

Vidit Gujrathi won against Hikaru Nakamura
D Gukesh drew against R Praggnanandhaa
Alireza Firouzja drew against Ian Nepomniachtchi
Nijat Abasov drew against Fabiano Caruana
Koneru Humpy drew against Kateryna Lagno
R Vaishali lost against Tan Zhongyi
Lei Tingjie drew against Nurgyul Salimova
Anna Muzychuk drew against Aleksandra Goryachkina

(Players mentioned on the right played with black pieces)

Gukesh Still at the Top, Praggnanandhaa Overtakes Nakamura

Gukesh remains at the top of the standings in the open section, alongside Nepomniachtchi, with both having 5.5 points. A defeat meant Hikaru Nakamura is now demoted to the fourth place with 4.5 points, whilst with 5 points, Praggnanandhaa has climbed to the third place and is now breathing down the necks of the leaders.

Like Nakamura, Vidit and Caruana also have 4.5 points in their accounts, but Sonneborn-Berger scores place Nakamura in fourth and Caruana in sixth, with Vidit splitting the two Americans. Firouzja is placed seventh with 3.5 points, followed by Abasov in the last position with 3 points.

In the women’s section, her victory and her competitors’ draws meant Tan Zhongyi is back as the solitary leader of the pack, with 6 points. She is followed by Lei Tingjie and Aleksandra Goryachkina – both on 5.5 points, with the Chinese having a better Sonneborn-Berger score than the Russian.

Kateryna Lagno is placed fourth with 5 points, whilst despite having the same points as Nurgyul Salimova (4), Koneru Humpy is placed behind the Bulgarian owing to the latter’s higher Sonneborn-Berger score. Anna Muzychuk and R Vaishali are occupying the last two places, wherein the Ukrainian has 3.5 points, and the Indian has 2.5.

Clash of Leaders in Round 10

Although five rounds are left in this competition, the next round – Round 10 – might end up deciding the champion from the open section. The leaders, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh – both of whom have looked fairly impregnable so far – will meet in a clash of epic significance, whilst in his bid to close the gap on the pair, Praggnanandhaa will face Vidit, who now has wind in the sails again. In the women’s section, Koneru Humpy will face a stern test against Tan Zhongyi, while Vaishali will face Nurgyul Salimova.

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