The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Gukesh shrugs off heartbreak, beats Vidit to rise to joint lead
INDIAN TEENAGER D Gukesh shot to the joint lead at the prestigious Candidates chess tournament after the 8th round by defeating compatriot Vidit Gujrathi with black pieces. Gukesh forced Vidit’s king on the run from move 31. From that point on, Vidit’s king got plenty of cardio over the next few moves. He eventually yielded on move 38 as four of Gukesh’s pieces surrounded the king.
The 17-year-old prodigy from Chennai had been left heartbroken just two days ago after he had allowed French GM Alireza Firouzja to defeat him in a game where he had been dominant throughout. Had Gukesh won his Round 7 clash, he would have gone into the halfway point of the double round-robin tournament as the sole leader, which would have been a stinging rebuke of the pre-tournament evaluations by legends like Magnus Carlsen.
Despite the rankling feeling of having missed a big chance against Alireza, Gukesh used the rest day well to recalibrate. He now shares the lead at the top of the standings with Ian Nepomniachtchi, who was held to a draw by Nijat Abasov. Nepo has emerged victorious at the last two Candidates events as well, and is one of the pre-tournament favourites. But this is Gukesh’s debut appearance in the elite eight-player competition, where only first place counts as the winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge Ding Liren for his World Champion's crown.
“Coming into joint lead is good, but I am just happy that I played a good game. I'm happy that I got back to the shape that I am supposed to be in,” Gukesh said at the postmatch press conference. “At the rest day yesterday, I tried to relax a bit. I wasn’t really super upset (at the defeat) or anything.”
He was asked whether he would start taking more risks from now on with just six games left. “It would depend on the game and also what my mood is,” he said, breaking into a rare smile. His next opponent in Round 9 is the other teenager from Chennai, Praggnanandhaa.
Pragg agreed to a draw against Alireza in Round 8, a result that keeps him in joint third position, just half a point behind Nepo and Gukesh.
On an incredible day in Toronto, Gukesh’s victory was sealed almost at the same time as when World No 2 Fabiano Caruana was also forced to resign against American compatriot, World No 3 Hikaru Nakamura. Caruana was joint second in the standings at the halfway stage with Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa.
Meanwhile, there was drama in the women’s event as well with Round 7 leader Tan Zhongyi losing to compatriot Lei Tingjie. Tan’s defeat means three women — Tan, Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina — share the top spot in the women’s Candidates event.
In the battle of the two Indians, Humpy squandered her early advantage against Vaishali to allow the 22-year-old a lifeline. But just when it looked like Vaishali would escape, she made a blunder which eventually led to her losing. Humpy is now in joint fifth position while Vaishali is at the bottom of the eight-women standings. The winner of the women’s event gets to face off against China’s Ju Wenjun in the Women’s World Chess Championship.
WOMEN’S STANDINGS after Round 8:
1-3. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS: Under FIDE flag): 5 points; 1-3. Lei Tingjie (CHN): 5 points; 1-3. Tan Zhongyi (CHN): 5 points; 4. Kateryna Lagno (RUS: Under FIDE flag): 4.5 points; 5-6.Nurgyul Salimova (BUL): 3.5 points; 5-6. Humpy Koneru (IND): 3.5 points; 7. Anna Muzychuk (UKR): 3 points; 6-8. Vaishali R (IND): 2.5 points.