Round 5 of the 2024 Candidates Tournament was bittersweet for the Indian contingent, where none of the five competitors suffered a defeat, and D Gukesh managed to emerge victorious against Nijat Abasov, albeit a couple of plausible wins ended up being draws.
Gukesh, the youngest participant of this edition’s Candidates Tournament, and the second-youngest of all time after Bobby Fischer, faced the lowest-seeded player in the open section – Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov.
The 17-year-old was touted as the favourite, especially being the only Indian yet to lose a game in this competition, albeit Abasov did not make life easy for him. In an 87-move game which turned out to be a test of grit and stamina, lasting nearly six hours, Gukesh eventually secured a win.
Fellow Indians in the open section, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi could also have won their respective contests against Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana, albeit they started as the underdogs.
Facing the defending Candidates champion Nepomniachtchi, Praggnanandhaa’s impressive opening preparation, tackling the Petroff defence, saw him gaining an advantage. He had time advantage further enhancing his chances of a victory, but that was not capitalised upon. Vidit, meanwhile, had the world number 2 Caruana cornered, but a misjudgement allowed the American to get a draw.
Praggnanandhaa’s sister, Vaishali drew her game in the women’s section, albeit the two scenarios were contrasting. Once finding herself in a precarious position against Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk, Vaishali did well to get a draw after 48 moves. India’s most experienced player in this competition, Koneru Humpy drew against Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina.
Elsewhere, arguably the biggest error in judgment came from French-Iranian Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja, who gave Hikaru Nakamura his first win of the competition. The other two games in the women’s section – Lei Tingjie vs Kateryna Lagno, and Tan Zhongyi vs Nurgyul Salimova – ended in draws.
2024 Candidates Tournament, Round 5 Results:
Alireza Firouzja lost against Hikaru Nakamura
D Gukesh won against Nijat Abasov
Vidit Gujrathi drew against Fabiano Caruana
R Praggnanandhaa drew against Ian Nepomniachtchi
Lei Tingjie drew against Kateryna Lagno
R Vaishali drew against Anna Muzychik
Koneru Humpy drew against Aleksandra Goryachkina
Tan Zhongyi drew against Nurgyul Salimova
(Players mentioned on the right played with black pieces)
Gukesh Tops Charts with Nepomniachtchi
In the open section, Gukesh is jointly placed at the top of the standings alongside Ian Nepomniachtchi, with a score of 3.5. Praggnanandhaa is fourth with 2.5 points, ahead of Hikaru Nakamura on the basis of Sonneborn-Berger score, while 2 points is only good enough for sixth place for Vidit Gujrathi.
In the women’s section, Vaishali is tied on points (2.5) with Lagno and Salimova, but Sonneborn-Berger score sees her placed below the Russian, and ahead of the Bulgarian. Humpy, like Vidit in the open section, is placed sixth with a score of 2.
Gukesh vs Nakamura in Round 6
In the sixth round of the tournament, Gukesh will have a chance to further extend his advantage over the chasing pack as he faces Nakamura, who might have won his last game but has not looked at his best in this competition. Praggnanandhaa will face Abasov, while Gujrathi will be up against Firouzja.
Vaishali will face Lagno in the women’s section, who has neither won, not lost any games in this competition. Humpy will be facing Tingjie, who might have won the last edition, but is yet to win a game on this occasion.
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