With three rounds to go at the Candidates, Ian Nepomniachtchi had the top spot in the Open section all to himself. Destiny in his hands. Another shot at being the World Champion.
Then Round 12 happened where a series of results blew the tournament wide open.
From an Indian perspective, the day saw D Gukesh force his way back into the reckoning as he masterfully plotted his way to the top of the leaderboard, completing a win with black pieces against Nijat Abasov.
It took a surprise opening, a well-thought-out series of first 14 moves, and a solid end-game, as he displayed maturity that belied his age.
Gukesh, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana all had to win to keep the pressure on Nepomniachtchi. So, they did. Nepomniachtchi himself had to be held back so that he wouldn’t stay in complete control. So, R Praggnanandhaa stepped up, bouncing back from a personally damaging defeat in the previous round.
Gukesh has said on a few occasions that he sees the Candidates as an individual tournament and it is unnatural to expect his fellow countrymen to join hands with him. Pragg and Vidit are now both effectively out of contention for the top spot, but in Round 12, the former did his part for Gukesh’s cause. In a match that never edged in anyone’s favour, Pragg played out a solid draw against Nepo, who might look back and rue not being more ambitious in this round if he doesn’t win the tournament.
And just like that, with two rounds to go, four men are in with a serious shot of winning the event.
That Nakamura and Caruana are in the mix is in keeping line with pre-tournament expectations.
That Nepomniachtchi has largely remained in control was also expected, after all, he is the latest challenger to the World Championship title. But Gukesh has impressed one and all, even being in the mix till this time, but now all the more so as he goes into the last two rounds with a genuine shot.
That Nepomniachtchi has largely remained in control was also expected, after all, he is the latest challenger to the World Championship title. (PHOTO: Maria Emelianova/Chess dot com)
The great Magnus Carlsen doesn’t get much wrong when it comes to chess. His assessment to chess.com, “I think it’s probably more likely that (Gukesh) will have a bad event than a good event” has been met with a solid response on the boards by the Indian teenager.
The 17-year-old, playing with black, knew he had to force his way through with surprise moves to throw his opponent off at the start. Abasov might be at the bottom of the standings but he hadn’t lost a match all tournament with white pieces till now so Gukesh charged in.
For his first 14 moves, Gukesh barely took any time off the clock as he reeled off well-prepared moves while Abasov was forced into taking his time.
“I felt I was outplaying him but he did have some drawing chances in the end-game. I surprised him in the opening with this line,” Gukesh said in his post-match analysis. He was referring to move 11 where he retreated his knight to h7, a move that GM David Howell said for Chess.com that nearly made him jump out of his chair for the sheer audacity of it.
“I just thought this would be an interesting line for the game I mean, it is obviously not one of the main lines but seems quite interesting and it worked in the game so yeah, can only be happy about that,” Gukesh added.
From there on, despite Abasov recovering well to the initial challenge, Gukesh remained just ahead before a 40th move blunder by his opponent under time pressure. It helped Gukesh gain control and calmly play out a win.
In Round 13, the other two leaders – Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi – face off, and one or both of them will drop points. Gukesh could potentially be in the lead all by himself if he wins and the two veterans cancel each other out. He takes on the enigmatic Firouzja, the Iran-born French Grandmaster, who is 7th.
Firouzja challenge
But Gukesh’s only defeat in the tournament so far came against Firouzja. In the Round 7 game, Gukesh seemed to have a slight advantage till he ran into trouble on the clock and blundered in the end, to suffer a heartbreak.
Alireza Firouzja reacts after his defeat to Fabiano Caruana in Round 10 of the Candidates chess tournament. (PHOTO: Michal Walusza via FIDE)
He reflected on that defeat too on Friday.
“In time scrambles anything can happen, that was also not a bad game throughout but yeah I just messed it up under the time pressure. But it happens, you know in 14 rounds of course you are not going to have success. Glad it was over and I got over it.”
And so, three pre-event favourites and a youngster will head into the weekend knowing anything is possible.
“Whoever plays good chess in the last two rounds and manages to remain focused, I think that person would have a pretty good chance,” was Gukesh’s matter-of-fact response on what is going to be key.
The press officer then pressed. What is that factor that helps you remain focused? Experience? Handling nerves? Freshness? Luck? “Yeah, a bit of everything I’d say. Luck plays a role too but what’s under my control I try to do that at my best. Surely there is luck in chess, nothing is completely in our control, so I guess just better to do our job and not worry about the rest.”
He’ll need all that and more in the last two rounds as history beckons.
Open, Round 12 results:
Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 Alireza Firouzja
Nijat Abasov 0-1 Gukesh D
Fabiano Caruana 1-0 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
Ian Nepomniachtchi ½-½ Praggnanandhaa R
Women’s, Round 12 results:
Kateryna Lagno ½-½ Lei Tingjie
Anna Muzychuk 0-1 Vaishali Rameshbabu
Aleksandra Goryachkina ½-½ Humpy Koneru
Nurgyul Salimova ½-½ Tan Zhongyi
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