Candidates Tournament: Gukesh Draws Nepomniachtchi, Caruana and Nakamura Win
The Candidates Tournament, a prestigious event that determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship, witnessed a crucial Round 10 battle between co-leaders Ian Nepomniachtchi and D Gukesh. The highly anticipated clash ended in a draw, leaving the tournament standings unchanged.
Gukesh, playing with the Black pieces, surprised Nepomniachtchi by deviating from the Berlin Defense to the Cozio Defense. The Indian prodigy equalized quickly out of the opening, and after the minor pieces were exchanged, the players agreed to a draw on Move 40. Gukesh expressed satisfaction with the result, acknowledging Nepomniachtchi’s dangerous nature with White.
Meanwhile, Americans Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura emerged victorious in the only two decisive games of the open section. Caruana, ranked second in the world, defeated Alireza Firouzja, who has seemingly fallen out of contention. Caruana played the risky 6.Rg1?! and introduced a novelty with Bc4 on the seventh move. Firouzja made several errors, including 30…h4 and 32…Rh5, before both players entered a time scramble. Caruana’s superior endgame skills proved decisive.
Nakamura, recovering from a loss in the previous round, defeated the lowest-rated player, Nijat Abasov. Despite time troubles, Nakamura managed to secure the win.
In the women’s section, Lei Tingjie continued her impressive run by defeating Aleksandra Goryachkina. Tan Zhongyi and Kateryna Lagno drew their game, while Vaishali R upset Nurgyul Salimova.