Gukesh wins Candidates: How dramatic Nepo-Caruana game helped 17-year-old script history

“I’m very… I’m very sorry,” choked Nepo, hardly able to look at his opponent after his inability to convert his third Candidates appearance into a victory for the third consecutive time.

A draw meant both their chances of qualifying for the World Championship were done and it would be 17-year-old Gukesh, a cub from the land of the Madras Tiger, who would be taking on China’s Ding Liren.

When the day began, Gukesh, Nepo, Fabi and Hikaru Nakamura had a chance to win the Candidates. Only Gukesh could have qualified even with a draw against Nakamura (as long as the other game between Nepo and Fabi was drawn too). The other three simply had to win, and even then they weren’t guaranteed a spot at the World Championship.

Both games ended in draws, but it was the most dramatic day of the Candidates in three weeks. For Gukesh, who will become the youngest ever world championship challenger, most of the drama that would decide his fate was happening on a board next to his own.

Here is a timeline of the most noteworthy moments from both boards:

Gukesh springs a surprise

The teenager makes the first attacking decision on the board, playing bishop to e7 with his fifth move. It’s an out-of-syllabus move that raises a few eyebrows.

“I’ve never seen this move played in Queen’s Gambit Accepted, despite playing this opening my whole life,” says GM Irina Krush on FIDE’s commentary stream. “I’ve not known of this move’s existence. This has been my main opening since my childhood.”

Magnus Carlsen, doing analysis on the Chess24 stream, says: “I’ve seen Gukesh play this line before in the Queen’s Gambit. So Hikaru would have anticipated this (from Gukesh), and it wouldn’t be a surprise for him. Gukesh has clearly studied this. Grzegorz Gajewski (Gukesh’s trainer) is really good at finding these lines. Gukesh knows what he’s doing.”

Caruana takes advantage

In the board next to Gukesh and Nakamura, as early as the 24th move, Caruana has a chokehold on this game, thanks to Nepo moving his pawn to b6, which allows Caruana to push his rook to d7 on his 25th move. Now the Russian has an option: to capture the American’s infiltrating rook with his own rook or the queen or his knight. Either way, that piece will soon be conquered by Caruana’s bishop on the f file or the dangerous pawn on c6.

The move leads to two rooks and two pawns being sacrificed. But more importantly, Caruana now holds an overwhelming advantage which he carries to the 40th move. If Caruana wins, Gukesh must win to avoid tiebreaks against the American.

Caruana has brief trouble passing time control, needing to make 10 moves in around 10 minutes. But he does that without too much drama.

Drama

And then, infused with an additional half an hour on his clock, the American walks headfirst into drama, blundering on the 41st move by moving his king to a1 square instead of placing it on a2. The move instantly allows Nepomniachtchi a window to escape for a draw.

Gukesh, who is still playing on the adjoining board, sees his hopes soar. Even a draw against Nakamura will seal his victory now.

Nepo spends eight minutes on his next move. He needs to find the move, queen to c2. He does! As it happens, Gukesh is standing next to their board, observing this moment. For once in 15 rounds, he’s allowed himself to be distracted by another game, because this game will decide whether he has to fight it out via tiebreakers or qualifies for the World Championship directly.

More blunders

With the game in his fist, Nepomniachtchi messes up four moves later by playing 44…Nb3; Caruana is winning again. Nepo needed to play 44…Ka6 to maintain the status quo.

Somewhere in the middle of this swinging yo-yo of fortunes, Gukesh and Nakamura have agreed to a draw and are sitting at the joint press conference. Gukesh’s eyes and mind drift on the game that’s still raging and is past the 50th moves. Little does he know that’s only half the number of moves the American and the Russian are about to play today.

Gukesh is asked at the press conference how he will tackle the tiebreak tomorrow because Caruana holds a massive advantage according to the computer. Gukesh starts offering a noncommittal reply, but before he can finish a journalist announces the momentum has swung. Now it’s heading for a draw again. Nakamura laughs. Gukesh smiles, then grimaces.

By move 59, there’s another blunder as Caruana pushes his ambitious rook to c7 to threaten a check on Nepo’s king. That’s a mistake. Those are about to occur very frequently now.

Move 61, blunder: Nepo.

Move 66, blunder: Caruana.

The American’s time has thinned down to just over a minute. We’re in the 70s, and Caruana’s queen is chasing Nepo’s king. The king darts from one square to another, hiding behind a pawn.

Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi had battled for 109 moves, withstanding each other’s hardest punches. (FIDE)

The herd on the board has thinned considerably now. Caruana holds one additional pawn. But his advantage has disappeared. Now it’s Nepo’s queen who’s making overtures at Caruana’s king.

Both players are still fighting on, throwing punches at each other without any power or conviction. They have, after all, been jousting for almost six hours now in the 14th such game they have played in the span of three weeks.

After the 109th move, Caruana bites the bullet. “Draw?” he asks Nepo over the board.

Nepo turns away. It takes him 30 seconds to accept his fate.

After the game, Nepo and Caruana turn up at the press conference together.

“It’s amazing not to win this position,” says Caruana at some point. “I feel like an idiot.”