All the top ve players have a good chance as the gap is small
Praggnanandhaa has impressed once again with his opening preparation and there is still much to expect from him; Gujrathi is showing a lot of resilience and strength; Humpy’s class is slowly breaking through
The Candidates chess tournament has entered a very interesting phase after the 10th round. D. Gukesh’s victory against Vidit Gujrathi helped him regain the joint lead along with Ian Nepomniachtchi. He then played two good games against R. Praggnanandhaa and Nepomniachtchi. The draw with the Russian was based on intelligent opening selection and good play after that.
Nepomniachtchi tried his best against Nijat Abasov, who defended well. He then drew two games, though he was in serious trouble against Alireza Firouzja in the ninth round, but his rival was slightly impatient and didn’t press his advantage long enough.
Praggnanandhaa had an interesting struggle against Firouzja and he impressed once again with his opening preparation.
Against Gukesh and Gujrathi, he played two solid draws. Based on his openings and his play so far, there is still much to expect from him.
Fabiano Caruana was playing well against Hikaru Nakamura but surprisingly collapsed within a space of four or ve moves. He tried his best against Abasov, who defended well.
His win against Firouzja has suddenly improved his chances and it also must have boosted his morale. Sometimes, an unexpected victory can improve your mood a lot.
Flawless
Nakamura scored the crucial win over his strongest rival on paper, Caruana, but he had some weak moves against Vidit, who played awlessly to clinch the game. Nakamura’s victory over Abasov took him to +1.
All the top ve players — Gukesh, Nepomniachtchi, Praggnanandhaa, Nakamura and Caruana — have good chances, because the gap is so small.
For Gujrathi, the defeat to Gukesh must have been costly. But he found strength the next day as he played an interesting game against Nakamura and won. It was an impressive comeback. Though he has been having a lot of weak moments, he is showing a lot of resilience and strength.
Firouzja was quite fortunate to beat Gukesh. Against Pragnnanandhaa, he played a creative and interesting game. He managed to outplay Nepomniachtchi, but lost his concentration and may have been disturbed slightly by an interaction with the arbiter. This should not have happened. He should have been able to focus harder.
Abasov has defended very well in some games in the second half of the tournament. He drew creditably with Nepomniachtchi and Caruana.
Decrease in quality
The level of mistakes has increased and the quality of the games has decreased slightly towards the latter rounds. It is possible that the fatigue and the amount of energy spent are catching up with them.
In the women’s section, Tan Zhongyi was leading alone after seven rounds. In the eighth, she unnecessarily took great risks against Lei Tingjie, who had just started her own series of victories.
Tan gambled for a win, and it backred. She lost and allowed Lei and Aleksandra Goryachkina to join her in the lead.
In the 10th round game between Lei and Goryachkina, a last-minute blunder by the latter turned a dead draw into a loss. That meant Lei would join Tan in the lead and Goryachkina fall to third place.
Given Lei’s run of form — 4.5 points from the last ve games — it is clear that the momentum is with her. But Tan has recovered slightly from her defeat and I predict it will be a very close nish.
Koneru Humpy has recovered a little bit. She had a topsy-turvy encounter against R. Vaishali, but won, though both the players were making mistakes. Then Humpy played well against Kateryna Lagno and Tan, and consolidated her situation. Slowly her class is breaking through.
Vaishali’s tough run of form continued, but a couple of blunders from Nurgyul Salimova rescued her tournament. Instead of her fth consecutive loss, she actually managed a victory.