India’s chess grandmaster D Gukesh secured a win over Azerbaijan grandmaster Nijat Abasov and leapfrogged to the No. 1 spot at the 2024 Candidates Chess tournament in Toronto, Canada on April 9. The 17-year-old Gukesh managed to win a marathon game against Abasov in Round 5. The game was played for almost six hours and took 87 moves to complete it. Gukesh is the second youngest player to compete at the prestigious Candidates tournament. He is now the joint leader in the Open category with Ian Nepomniachtchi at 3.5 points.
Praggnanandhaa, Vidit play out draws
Meanwhile, Gukesh’s compatriots R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi were in the driver’s seat at various points of their games against Nepomniachtchi and Fabio Caruana respectively. However, the two experienced players were held to draws by heavily favoured opponents of the Candidates tournament.
Gujrathi had defeated World No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura in the second round but faced straight losses to Praggnanandhaa and Nepomniachtchi in the third and fourth rounds. The draw means that he has managed to end his two-match losing steak.
In the women’s section, India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu and Humpy Koneru also drew their match against Anna Muzychuk and Aleksandra Goryachkina respectively. All the women’s games ended in draws.
Meanwhile, American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura finally earned his first win at the tournament after defeating Alireza Firouzja. Notably, Gujesh secured a share of the lead with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi holding the fourth and sixth sports respectively.
Round 5 Match Results
Men: D Gukesh (3.5) beat Nijat Abasov (Aze, 1.5)
Praggnanandhaa (2.5) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 3.5)
Vidit Gujrathi (2) drew with Fabiano Caruana (3)
Alireza Firouza (Fra, 1.5) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2.5)
Women: R Vaishali (2.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 2)
Koneru Humpy (2) drew with Aleksandra Goriyatchkina (FID, 3)
Tan Zhongyi (Chi, 3.5) drew with Nurgyul Salimova (Bul, 2.5)
Le Tingjie (Chi, 2) drew with Katryena Lagno (FID, 2.5)
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