The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Of good luck, bad moves and ugly losses
Russia’s Nepomniachtchi outwits Vidit to become the first sole leader in Candidates Tournament
PTI file
VIDIT GUJRATHI found himself caught in a Mexican standoff with an unrelenting opponent and an unforgiving clock. By his 37th move in the fourth round of the Candidates, the time on his clock had withered down to 4 minutes, 39 seconds, with him needing to make four more moves to avoid losing on time. His opponent, Ian Nepomniachtchi, a man who has successfully navigated his way through the rainforest of the Candidates twice, had his pawn on the e file, one square away from getting to the end zone and promoting.
He moved his bishop to e8 in a bid to block the path of Nepo's pawn from getting to that touchdown rather than using his knight on the d file to cut the ambitious pawn down to size.
Nepomniachtchi, who had over 32 minutes on the clock at that stage, was not on the board when that fateful move happened. He was at the end of the playing hall watching the live positions of all the boards. When he saw it, his eyes widened. Then, his lips curled in a facial shrug of sorts.
“Bishop e8 was a terrible blunder. At least he should have taken the knight to e7 (to capture the pawn). I saw (Vidit make that move) from a distance, but I thought it was unlikely that he can keep my pawn (confined) to e7 with such a poor rook and get away with it,” the Russian said later before explaining the next lines he calculated in the next minutes before making his next move. “Just to make sure my eyes are not deceiving me,” he said.
His eyes weren’t. In seven more moves, his victory was sealed and he surged ahead to the top spot in the standings at the first pit stop of the Candidates: the first rest day. Vidit, on a high after that heady Round 2 victory over World No 3 Hikaru Nakamura, slumped to his second successive defeat.
Viswanathan Anand, in the FIDE commentary box, started speaking on situations from his own career where he would play a great game only to suffer a defeat right after.
“It’s happened to me on many occasions.
Bishop e8 was a terrible blunder. At least he should have taken the knight to e7 (to capture the pawn). I saw (Vidit make that move) from a distance, but I thought it was unlikely that he can keep my pawn (confined) to e7 with such a poor rook and get away with it.”
The Candidates tournament I played in Moscow was just like this. I beat Levon Aronian in one game, then lost to Fabiano Caruana like a baby the next day. I was really hammered. Then won a beautiful game next up against Sergey Karjakin, and then I lost to Hikaru Nakamura,” Anand recollected. “Any time there’s an emotional jump, whether it’s up or down, you need to re-calibrate. At the toughest events you will not know what went wrong. It will seem to you that your positions are good, but you will not be able to figure how your level has dropped so much,” said Anand as Vidit’s face contorted in a mask of pain.
Irina Krush, Anand’s co-commentator, asked Anand if a loss had ever infuriated him enough for him to damage his hotel room (as Hans Niemann was recently accused of doing). “I might call myself every name under the sun. I might fling a key here and there, but not stupidly. I won’t hit the glass or anything. Don’t see the point of dirtying my room. I have to clean it up myself,” said Anand rationally.
Anand then said that the trick he used in his own career to stop the emotional bleeding in such situations is to convince yourself into thinking that he was starting a fresh tournament even if he was playing in the fifth game of the event.
Right moment, right shot
Talking about Nepo, Anand said: “One of the things that has been helping Ian at this tournament has been his shot selection. He picks (the right) opening (against the opponents). Ian is the perfect blend of being opportunistic and well prepared. (Which is why) He’s leading his third Candidates in a row.”
Nakamura, who has the same number of points as Vidit and is yet to register a single victory in the event, was chirpier than Vidit in his post-match recap video.
“Keep in mind that this tournament is a marathon, not a sprint. So you have to judge when those moments are (that you take your chances). I had a feeling that after taking some wild chances against Gukesh and then Vidit in previous games, Pragg would opt to play rock solid (safe) against me,” Nakamura said on his own stream after his draw against Praggnanandhaa in the fourth round.
Nakamura was a touch dejected after his Round 3 draw against rank-underdog Nijat Abasov when he heard after the game that the Azerbaijan player had been sick. He said had he known this before the match he would have pushed his opponent for a decisive result. Nakamura also looked displeased when he agreed to a draw by threefold repetition against Pragg in Round 4. But on his stream, he explained the strategy required to play at an event like the Candidates, which runs on for 14 games, and the role luck plays.
“I have the feeling, based on my past experience, that I will get opportunities to go for wins in the future. I feel a lot of players will start going crazy as the event progresses. If I am wrong, I will look back at these two games and regret not taking more risks perhaps,” he said. “But aside from that defeat to Vidit, everything is going according to plan.”
He added: “Yesterday, Pragg shocked the world by playing the Delayed Schliemann against Vidit. It’s really a tragedy that Pragg tried this against Vidit and not me. Because I’ve played against a Greek player many times online where he has tried this. So if Pragg had played that against me, I have a good feeling that I probably would have won the game,” said Nakamura.
Monday is a rest day for the players with the local organisers having planned a cruise on Lake Ontario to watch the solar eclipse.“the rest days are my favourite days of the tournament. By far,” grinned Nepo.