How Ian Nepomniachtchi twice escaped from Vidit’s traps at Candidates

Both have half a point less than Nepomniachtchi with just three more rounds left. Gukesh played out a draw against World No.2 Fabiano Caruana with white pieces while the third Indian in the open competition, Praggnanandhaa, lost to World No.3 Nakamura, a result that sees him 1.5 points off the pace.

When the end came, five hours and 67 moves later, both players were in shock. (Michal Walusza via FIDE)

The scenario could have been a lot different had the chips fallen differently in the Round 11 game against Vidit. Had the Indian managed to defeat Nepo, Gukesh and Nakamura would have been joint leaders. Had he managed to draw with the Russian, there would have been three joint leaders heading into Round 12.

When the end came, five hours and 67 moves later, both players were in shock. Vidit shook his head, held his face in both palms as he walked away. It was dawning on him that defeat left him two points behind the Russian, meaning his hopes of winning the Candidates are virtually over.

Nepo sat on his chair for a while, shuttered his eyes with his palm, scarcely believing that he had managed to claw a victory out of a game he seemed destined to lose. Twice.

How Vidit allowed Nepo to escape twice

By the 33rd move, Vidit, playing with white pieces, had built up a significant advantage on the board.

He could have added to that advantage by advancing his pawn in the ‘h file’ by one more square to h5, which would have put the black pawn on ‘g file’ under pressure: it could either capture the advancing pawn, or be captured by it. Either way, had Vidit made that move, there would be a pawn advancing towards Nepo’s king, not to mention the rook on the first rank who could have darted sideways before charging at Nepo’s king on h8.

Instead, Vidit chose the move 34. Kd3, which the computer didn’t appreciate too much.

“I was doing fine after that (move). But I wanted to win the game,” Nepo said before launching into an analysis of what he had thought during the game and its critical moments, a monologue he ended with: “I got lucky.”

He would get lucky again. The second reprieve Vidit inadvertently offered Nepomniachtchi was three moves later when instead of claiming the pawn on d5 with his knight, Vidit chose to withdraw his king to c2.

It was a decision that Vidit made in a hurry, because his time on the clock was thinning. Had Vidit chosen to claim the pawn with his knight, it would have started off a massacre on the board with two knights, two pawns, one bishop and two rooks losing their lives but Vidit emerging with a significant advantage.

Later, Nepo admitted he had not calculated what would happen if Vidit claimed the pawn with his knight. “Oh, white would win? Good to know,” he said with a straight face at the post-match press conference before the shadow of a smile appeared on his face as he added earnestly. “I didn’t calculate that of course.”

There was one more moment where Vidit could have chosen to repeat his move and push the game to a draw. But he chose differently.

On the 41st move, Vidit pushed his knight to d2, which got him a bishop d6 response. Vidit promptly shifted his knight to e4, attacking the black bishop. Nepo shifted it to the initial square again, which meant that the position had repeated twice on the board. All Vidit had to do was move his knight to d2 again. But he chose Ng3, which indicated he wasn’t looking for a draw.

“Luckily for me, he didn’t take the draw here and went Ng3,” Nepo said.

Nepomniachtchi has an enviable record at the Candidates. He won the 2020 edition, which was split in half by the coronavirus pandemic — the first half being played in March 2020 and the second half starting 13 months later in April 2021 in Yekaterinburg. But Nepo stayed consistent through that phase. He was joint leader when the event was stopped, and confirmed his victory with a round to spare when the players reconvened in 2021. In 2022, the event was clouded with a different kind of uncertainty: whether Magnus Carlsen will defend his title against the Candidates winner or not. Even at that edition, Nepo managed to win with a round to spare.

The man who has a 100 percent success rate at the Candidates tournament is now one square ahead of the rest of the eight-player field. Gukesh and Nakamura have just three more moves left to catch the man who’s an escape artist on the 64 squares. (Michal Walusza via FIDE)

The man who has a 100 percent success rate at the Candidates tournament is now one square ahead of the rest of the eight-player field. Gukesh and Nakamura have just three more moves left to catch the man who’s an escape artist on the 64 squares.

Round 11 results

Open
Praggnanandhaa R (5.5) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (6.5)
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (5) lost to Ian Nepomniachtchi (7)
Gukesh D (6.5) drew Fabiano Caruana (6)
Alireza Firouzja (4.5) beat Nijat Abasov (3)

Women
Tan Zhongyi (7.5) beat Kateryna Lagno (5.5)
Humpy Koneru (5.5) beat Nurgyul Salimova (4)
Vaishali Rameshbabu (4.5) beat Aleksandra Goryachkina (5.5)
Lei Tingjie (7) drew with Anna Muzychuk (4.5)

Round 12 pairings

Open
Hikaru Nakamura vs Alireza Firouzja
Nijat Abasov vs Gukesh D
Fabiano Caruana vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Praggnanandhaa R

Women
Kateryna Lagno vs Lei Tingjie
Anna Muzychuk vs Vaishali R
Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Humpy Koneru
Nurgyul Salimova vs Tan Zhongyi