The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Indian GMS take no pressure
Not only have Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit handled the occasion, but they have also caught their opponents off guard with their smart tactics
Six players, one point apart, four more games each, playing for one position that matters — finishing atop the FIDE Candidates 2024.
Over the next five days, Ian Ne p omni ac ht chi,DGukesh,R Praggnanandhaa, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Vidit Gujrathi — will play four of the most decisive games of their careers as they race towards the top spot of the double round robin event featuring eight players where finishing first gives the right to challenge the World Champion.
The pack of six is currently separated by one point on the standings after 10 games. No American has been world champion since Bobby Fischer in 1972, over five decades back. Ca ru ana, who has competed in four candidates previously, had his shot in 2018 but was denied by Magnus Carlsen.
On Tuesday, Gukesh managed to stay on top of the candidates standings after 10 rounds. Gukesh’s big showdown with Ian Nepomniachtchi fizzled out in a draw after 40 moves. Both players will stay on top of the standings The other game of Round 10 involving Indians — the clash between Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi — ended in a draw by three-fold repetition.
No Russian has ascended the throne since Vladimir Kramnik in 2006. Nepomniachtchi has had two shot sat the title, after winning the last two Candidates tournaments, but was denied by Carlsen and Ding Liren.
The three first-timers from India will also be aware that no indian has been world championin just over a decade. viswa nathan an and called the trio “longshots”. Carlsen had placed the three Indians, along with Nijat Abasov, at the bottom half of his predicted rating list ahead of the event.
With only four games left,guke sh leads the race with Russia’s Nepo at six points, Pragg is tussling with Americans Nakamura and Ca ru ana half a point behind, and vi di tis on five points, a point away from the top. The other two contenders — Alireza Firouzja and Nijat Abasov — are out of the race.
Not only have the Indians handled the rigours of the competition well, they have also arrived in Toronto armed with a bag of tricks that have caught their opponents off guard at times.
While Vidit got Nakamura hot and bothered by offering his bishop as a sacrifice on the 11th move in the second round (in a game which the indian went onto win ), ca ru ana was taken aback by Pragg’s opening choice against him in their Round 7 clash.
“I don’t think he’s played the French at all (moving the pawn toe 6 instead o fe 5 as a response to white’ se 4). It’s usu a ll ye4,e 5. In this tournament, he’s so far played every game with e5 (as the first move with black). I sort of knew the line, but he knew it better ,” ru ana in an interview with st louis chess Club’s Youtube channel.
Caruana went on a run of six draws and a defeat before he finally won his round 10 clash on Tuesday.
Nepo was forced into a double take by Guke shop tin g forth ecozi ode fence with black pieces (light-squared knight jumps in front of the king one 7 square) when the russian chose the Ruy Lopez to attack him with white pieces in round 10. “i wouldh ave preferred top uta bit more pressure on Gukesh, but this Nge7 became trendy recently. It’s not as simple as it might seem,” said Nepo in his own analysis.
Pressure at an event like the Candidates also comes from what’s happening on the adjacent boards. After his win over Caruana in Round 8, Nakamura had explained how pressure messes with your mind. At that point, Caruana was just half a point behind sole leader Nepo.
“Everyone was expecting Nepo to beat Nijatabasov (inround8) withwhite pieces. so I felt that Fabiano really felt the pressure to do something. He was probably thinking in his mind that Nepo is going to win his game and then get away (from touching distance on the leader board ),” explained nakamura, who capita lise don that desperation of Caruana to defeat him .“At the Candidates, everyone is just super-nervous. Crazy out of their minds,” said Nakamura, who went on to proclaim that he’s only at the Candidates playing for fun since he thinks of himself asa stream er first and a chess player later.
He pointed at the game between Alireza Firouzjaandguke sh( in round 7 where ali reza had won against the indian ), where the french GM had about three minutes to make nine moves to make the time control.
“Ali reza was super calm, super relaxed, super focus sed…t he way he should have been at the start of any tournament. But if you were (contending for the title and you had three minutes to make nine moves ), you would have been shaking and nervous. That’s just a byproduct of the Candidates tournament where everyone is on the edge.”
There are pressures in other forms as well: Winning the Candidates means taking a shot at the world chess champion’s crown, currently worn by Ding. Since he became world champion last year, ding has largely been missing from action. In the few events he has taken part in, he has seemed shaky, which should embolden all six players to take their chances. Standings (Open):
1-2 (6pts): Ian Nepomniachtchi, D Gukesh 6; 3-5(5.5 pts) Praggnanandhaa, F Caruana, H Nakamura; 6 (5pts) V Gujrathi; 7 (3.5) A Firouzja; 8 (3) N Abasov)