D Gukesh is one win away from winning the 2024 FIDE Candidates, after taking the sole lead of the tournament with a thrilling win over Alireza Firouzja in Round 13, while fellow contenders, Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi and USA's Hikaru Nakamura played out a draw to concede the lead to the 17-year-old Indian.
Fabiano Caruana of the USA also drew level in second place with Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura after a gruelling win over R Praggnanandhaa took the American to 8 points, with Gukesh on 8.5.
The result means Gukesh is also back as India's no.1 in the live rankings, and he now has the opportunity to win the Candidates with a win over Hikaru Nakamura in the final round, albeit playing with black pieces. A draw would also suffice for Gukesh, guaranteeing him a tie-breaker at the very least. Gukesh has the opportunity to become the first Indian to win the Candidates since Viswanathan Anand did so in 2014, and should he achieve the feat, he would become the youngest-ever challenger for the FIDE World Championship in the history of chess.
In the Women's section, R Vaishali's incredible run of form saw her pick up a fourth straight win, upsetting China's Lie Tingjie. The win took Vaishali level with Koneru Humpy on 6.5 points, the latter forcing a draw with Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, with a four-way tie for third place seeing the Indians joined by Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia.
Here's how round 13 panned out:
Results in round 13 (of 14):
FIDE Candidates Tournament (Open):
Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) drew Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
Gukesh D (IND) beat Alireza Firouzja (FRA)
Vidit Gujrathi (IND) drew Nijat Abasov (AZE)
R Praggnanandhaa (IND) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA)
FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament:
Vaishali R (IND) beat Lei Tingjie (CHN)
Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) drew Kateryna Lagno (RUS)
Tan Zhongyi (CHN) drew Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS)
Koneru Humpy (IND) drew Anna Muzychuk (UKR)
Gukesh beats Firouzja, goes top after Nepo and Nakamura draw
Playing with white pieces, Gukesh didn't have the best of openings, with Firouzja even taking a slight advantage before things stabilized in the mid-game. With the game heading for a draw, Gukesh eschewed repetitions offered up by Firouzja and instead baited his opponent into an exchange of queens. That gave Gukesh the advantage going into the end-game, but after throwing away a similarly positive position the last time he faced Firouzja, the Frenchman had hope.
However, the 17-year-old Indian pressed home the advantage, using his rook to close out the game and take the victory.
���� @DGukesh leaving the venue of the #FIDECandidates after defeating ���� Alireza Firouzja (2760).
With only one round to go, the 17-year-old Indian Grandmaster is the sole leader with 8.5/13. pic.twitter.com/m4ZjuvkF1b- International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 21, 2024
Meanwhile, the other title decider saw Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura play out a draw in only 27 moves, with the duo surprising many by opting for conservative positions - although the Russian did fare better in the opening exchanges. Round 14 promises to be a thriller, as Gukesh faces Nakamura, and Caruana takes on Nepomniachtchi as all title-challengers clash with each other. Caruana had drawn level in second place after a long contest against Praggnanandhaa, which saw a late error from the Indian, giving the American the win in 87 moves.
Vaishali continues resurgence to climb to joint third alongside Humpy
Three rounds ago, R Vaishali was bottom of the standings, but the Indian has now climbed into third place with her fourth consecutive win - this time upsetting China's Lei Tingjie who fell behind Tan Zhongyi in the race for the title. Vaishali outplayed her opponent in the opening stages and then proceeded to play aggressively as Tingjie attempted to force the Indian into a draw, but eventually had to concede.
Koneru Humpy, who drew with Muzychuk, is all that stands between Tan and the title, as a draw against Tingjie in the final round would be enough for the Chinese player to win. Vaishali faces Lagno in the final round, her direct competitor for who can finish third.
So what does that do to the standings?
Standings after Round 13 (of 14):
FIDE Candidates Tournament (Open):
Gukesh (8.5)
Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura, Caruana (8)
Praggnanandhaa (6)
Vidit (5.5)
Firouzja (4.5)
Abasov (3.5)
FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament:
Tan (8.5)
Lei (7.5)
Goryachkina, Lagno, Humpy, Vaishali (6)
Muzychuk, Salimova (5)
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.
One round remains:
Schedule
OPEN CATEGORY
WOMEN'S CATEGORY