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          FIDE Candidates 2024: Gukesh beats Abasov, joins Nepomniachtchi in the lead after round 5

          D Gukesh join Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead of the Open standings at the end of the fifth round of matches at the 2024 FIDE Candidates. Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images
          • ESPN staffApr 10, 2024, 03:12 AM

          India's D Gukesh carved out a hard-fought win over Nijat Abasov to join Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead of the Open standings at the end of the fifth round of matches at the 2024 FIDE Candidates tournament on Wednesday. R Praggnanadhaa gave Nepomniachtchi a tough fight before they drew, while Vidit Gujrathi earned a creditable draw with tournament-favourite Fabiano Caruana after nearly snatching an upset win.

          In the women's event, there were draws all around as China's Zhongyi Tan remained atop the women's section after a draw with Bulgaria's Nurgyul Salimova.

          Results in round 4 (of 14):

          FIDE Candidates Tournament (Open):

          • D Gukesh (IND) beat Nijat Abasov (AZE)

          • Hikaru Nakamura (USA) beat Alireza Firouzja

          • R Praggnanadhaa (IND) drew Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)

          • Vidit Gujrathi (IND) drew Fabiano Caruana (USA)

          FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament:

          • Zhongyi Tan (CHN) drew Nurgyul Salimova (BUL)

          • Lei Tingjie (CHN) drew Kateryna Lagno (RUS)

          • Vaishali R (IND) drew Anna Muzychuk (UKR)

          • Koneru Humpy (IND) drew Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS)

          How Gukesh beat Abasov

          Gukesh, the youngest participant in the Open category, notched up a fantastic win over Abasov in an absorbing contest that went on for nearly six hours. The Indian teenager got off to an aggressive start and had the momentum firmly in his favour with his domination of the e5 and proceeded to win a pawn. However, a couple of errors pegged him back, but he obtained a position where he was up a pawn in a queen endgame. Abasov, fighting hard for a draw, did everything and at one point he just had to play h3 for a draw, he instead took his queen to a5 only for Gukesh to give him a check again.

          Abasov managed to keep it level for as long as he could, but with mounting pressure from Gukesh, he eventually slipped up erred and Gukesh pounced on the chance to grab the win and join Nepomniachtchi in the lead with his second win of the tournament.

          Prag troubles Nepo, Vidit nearly has Caruana

          Praggnanandhaa nearly scored a huge win over Nepomniachtchi, but the Russian recovered well to salvage a draw. The Indian teenager came well prepared in the Petrov Defence, deviating from well-known paths with 16. Bh3 and sacrificed two pawns for a kingside attack, following a knight sacrifice on f7 on move 21.

          Playing with White, Praggnanandhaa later noted that Nepomniachtchi could have returned the piece by 23...Bxh2, followed by 24...Nc5, providing Black with solid chances for a draw. After exchanging blows early on, the game was evenly placed on move 25, though Praggnanandhaa a slight edge. However, he let go of his advantage by exchanging queens. In the endgame, Nepomniachtchi defended doggedly to wrap up the draw.

          Vidit missed an opportunity to stun Caruana as he had the American within a couple moves from resigning. Playing with White, Vidit employed the Nezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack and earned a solid advantage. He was steadily control when Caruana made a blunder with 22...e5, completely missing White's crushing reply 23. Qg3. Vidit had the game in the bag and looked well-placed for his second victory of the tournament, but could not close out on the win. He later confessed that he saw the right continuation, which was running with his king and playing Kc1 or Kc2 on move 26 but thought that playing 26. Qe5 would also bring him victory. He missed the important defending resource 26...Qa4 and had to be content with a draw.

          The final game in the Open category saw Nakamura outwit Firouzja with what he termed a gamble and would later quip: "Not to sound too cocky, but I felt a little bit like Magnus here." Explaining his strategy and how he scoured the win, he said: "I remembered this game, between Magnus and Alireza in Norway Chess, where the game was a draw most of the way. But Alireza was very nervous and shaking, and Magnus managed to win this."

          Draws all around in women's section

          All four games in the women's Candidates finished in a draw, but that did not affect the standings as Zhongyi retained her spot at the top. "I feel like I don't have a huge lead right now because I am only half a point in front of Goryachkina," she said after her game. "I need to be careful because everything can change in two games."

          Humpy's game against Goryachkina saw the players quickly reach endgame in a contest which never deviated from an equal evaluation. Humpy now has four draws on the trot. The other Indian in the fray, Vaishali, also reached endgame as early as move 22, in her game against Muzychuk.

          The match-up between Tingjie and Lagno looked likely to produce a result, with the former in the driver's seat. Despite being down a pawn, Tingjie had a strong center and better piece activity. However, around move 23, she failed to find a good setup for her pieces and the momentum swing in Lagno's favour. By move 30, White's position was lost. Lagno's pieces were surrounding the white king, but she failed to find the precise continuation to capitalise before the position returned to equality.

          Note - There are five Indians playing the Candidates for the first time, which is a winner-takes-it-all tournament between the top 8 players in the world to decide who will compete in the World Championship match to challenge the reigning world champion.

          Standings after Round 5 (of 14):

          FIDE Candidates Tournament (Open):

          • 1-2: Nepomniachtchi (3.5), Gukesh (3.5)

          • 3: Caruana (3)

          • 4-5: Nakamura (2.5), Praggnanandhaa (2.5)

          • 6: Vidit (2)

          • 7-8: Abasov (1.5), Firouzja (1.5)

          FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament:

          • 1: Zhongyi (3.5)

          • 2: Goryachkina (3)

          • 3-5: Lagno (2.5), Salimova (2.5), Vaishali (2.5)

          • 6-8: Muzychuk (2), Tingjie (2), Humpy (2)

          Schedule

          OPEN CATEGORY

          WOMEN'S CATEGORY