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Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh produced another brilliantly crafted win over Azerbaijan's Nijat Abasov in the 12th round game of the Candidates Chess tournament at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada. After defeating Abasov, he took a joint-lead with Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura in the tournament. Gukesh targeted bottom-placed Nijat Abasov and clinched the much-needed victory. Gukesh played out his moves quickly while Abasov suffered from time pressure and made mistakes during the game.
“He didn’t take pawn (on a3) and after that my knight was active and I was a pawn up,” said Gukesh in the post-match presentation.
“I think it will come down to whoever plays good chess in the last two rounds, manages to remain focused. I feel pretty good physically and mentally. From the start, I’ve been in good shape. I don’t feel any kind of exhaustion,” he added.
Fabiano Caruana vs Vidit Gujrathi
Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana defeated India’s Vidit Gujrathi as he could not handle pressure and made another mistake against Caruana. He went Qf4 but Caruana returned the favour by playing Bf5.
“My results have kept me alive”, said Caruana after the match.
“I started to play better and feel better and started to win some games finally after a long time..every other tournament doesn’t compare to this in pressure and stakes,” Caruana stated.
Praggnanandhaa vs Ian Nepomniachtchi
The game between Indian chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi ended in a draw in the open section. Nepomniachtchi added another half a point to his kitty to make it 7.5.
Hikaru Nakamura vs Alireza Firouzja
In other match, American Hikaru Nakamura scored the hat-trick against GM Alireza Firouzja to join Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh in the lead.
Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Anna Muzychuk
In the women’s category, Vaishali emerged victorious against Anna Muzychuk in the hard-fought battle that lasted 57 moves.
Notably, two more rounds remain until the World Championship challenger is decided. Gukesh, Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura and the fourth-placed Caruana have a chance to win the tournament.
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