The fields are rounding the final turn at both the FIDE World Championship Candidates Tournament and the FIDE Women’s World Championship Candidates Tournament now being played in Toronto, and it’s still anybody’s race.
As this is being written, Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and Indian 17-year-old dark-horse GM D Gukesh are tied for the lead in the open Candidates tournament with four games left to be played. But with clutch Round 10 wins Monday, American hopefuls GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Hikaru Nakamura are just a half-point back at 51/2-4 1/2, along with another Indian teen sensation, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
In the women’s event, Chinese GMs Tan Zhongyi and Tingjie Lei are tied for first at 6 1/2-3 1/2, a full point clear of Russian GMs Alexandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, also with four games remaining.
The winner of the open tournament earns a title match with Chinese world champ GM Ding Liren, while Chinese GM Ju Wenjun will face the winner of the women’s tourney. Tuesday is a rest day in Toronto before the final sprint.
Nakamura dealt a blow to Caruana’s hopes of qualifying for a second title match — he lost in overtime to former champ Magnus Carlsen of Norway in a hard-fought 2018 match — with a convincing victory when the two met in Round 8 Saturday. Nakamura continued his fine record against his chief American rival, whose nervous play in a quiet Ruy Lopez Arkhangelsk line led to disaster.
Nakamura said later he sensed his opponent was prepared to play a more aggressive line but seemed to change course at the board, taking a lot of time over relatively simple moves. In the face of White’s small but nagging initiative, Caruana goes wrong with 24. Qd2 Qg5?! 25. Re3! Nf4 26. h4!. Caruana was visibly — and unhappily — surprised by these moves, Nakamura recalled; now 26…Qxh4?! 27. Re4 g5 28. Rae1 gives White great compensation for the pawn, with the Black queen and knight effectively locked out of the game.
Black backs off with 26…Qd5, but the next five moves show White relentlessly advancing as Black’s pieces fall back. With his time growing short, Black took just two minutes for 30. h5 Bd7? (Rb8, sitting tight, may be Black’s best right now) and pays the price: 31. Rxe8 Bxe8 32. Nf5 (already with the threat of 33. Nxh6+! gxh6 34. Qxh6 Qxd4 35. Re3 Ne6 36. Bh7+ Kh8 37. Bf5+ Kg8 38. Bxe6 and wins) 33. Qb4 b5? (see diagram; this loses quickly, but Black’s plight was grim already) 34. Ne7+ Kh8 35. Nd5!, discovering an attack on the loose Black knight on f8 that is decisive. Caruana resigned, as 35…c5 36. Qxc5 Nd7 37. Nxf6 Nxc5 38. Rxe8+ Rxe8 39. Nxe8 wins a piece.
—-
Unfortunately for Nakamura, his Round 9 pairing was with GM Santosh Vidit, who had already beaten the American with the black pieces earlier in the tournament. The Indian star made it 2-0 against Nakamura, who came into the event riding a 47-game unbeaten string, taking him out this time from the White side of a London System.
After some positional shadow-boxing, Black seeks pressure on the kingside, but the foray comes to naught and White takes advantage on the other flank: 23. Qd1 Nf4 24. b4!, an unpleasant move to meet as 24…axb4 25. Bxb4 25. Rcc8 26. Bxe7 Rxe7 27. Qb1 targets Black’s weaknesses.
Black jettisons the a-pawn in hopes of reaching a drawing ending, but surrenders a second pawn after 27. Bc3 Nxe5?! (d4, with complications, could be Black’s best hope) 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. Nxd5! Nxd5 (Qxd5 30. Qxd5 Nxd5 31. Rxe5 Rxe5 32. Nxe5 is better for White) 30. Nxe5 Qe6 31. Rd3 (just 31. a5 was also strong here) Nf4 32. Rd6 Qa2 33. Rxh6.
The material edge is nice, but the attack on the Black king is even more potent: 33…Qb2 (Rc2 34. Qd7 Rf8 35. Qf5! — a killer square for the queen — Ng6 36. Nxg6 and wins) 34. Qd7 Qb3 35. Qf5 Ng6 36. Rxg6+!, and Black resigned as 36…fxg6 37. Qxg6+ Kh8 (Kf8 38. Nd7 mate) 38. Qh6+ Kg8 39. Qxg5+ Kh7 40. Qg6+ Kh8 41. Re4 leaves mate just around the corner.
—-
On the women’s side, the two Chinese entrants are also not showing any hometown favoritism. Tan defeated Lei with the Black pieces in the event’s opening round, and Lei returned the “favor” with a beautiful positional win against Tan with Black in Round 8.
White in hindsight should have taken the draw by repetition here at Move 21, as her subsequent kingside attack badly backfires. By 34. Qg5 Qf8, White’s dominance of the g-file and the shaky position of the pinned Black knight on f6 seem to be problems, but Black in fact may already have a positionally won game.
It turns out there’s no way to add to the attack, the h-pawn can’t be saved and Black’s got an initiative building on the queenside as well. By 41. Bf1? (tougher was 41. Kd1 Rhh8 42. Kc2, but Black can still invade via 42…Qg8! 43. Bh1 Qe8) Qh8 42. Qa1 Kf6! (prudently tucking the king away before the final assault) 43. Rg2 Rh3 (already threatening 44…Rxf3! 45. Kxf3 Qh5+ 46. Rg4 Qxg4 mate) Qh5+ 45. Ke1 Rxe3+, White’s position is collapsing.
It’s all over on 49. Qb2 Rh8 50. Bf3 (Rxc7 Rh1+ 51. Kc2 Qd2 mate) Rh2 51. Qc1, and Tan resigned not needing to see 51…Rd2+ 52. Ke1 Qg3+ 53. Kf1 Qf2 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Nakamura-Caruana, FIDE World Championship Candidates Tournament, Toronto, April 2024
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. O-O d6 7. c3 O-O 8. Re1 Ne7 9. Nbd2 Ng6 10. Nf1 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Bb3 c6 13. d4 exd4 14. Nxd4 Nf6 15. h3 Bxd4 16. cxd4 Nd5 17. Bc2 Be6 18. Ng3 Ndf4 19. Re4 Nd5 20. a3 Re8 21. Bd2 Nf6 22. Bg5 h6 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 24. Qd2 Qg5 25. Re3 Nf4 26. h4 Qd5 27. Re4 Ng6 28. Rae1 Nf8 29. Re5 Qd8 30. h5 Bd7 31. Rxe8 Bxe8 32. Nf5 Qf6 33. Qb4 b5 34. Ne7+ Kh8 35. Nd5 Black resigns.
Vidit-Nakamura, World Championship Candidates Tournament, Toronto, April 2024
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 d6 6. O-O g5 7. Nbd2 Bg7 8. Bb3 a5 9. a4 O-O 10. Nc4 Be6 11. Re1 Re8 12. h3 Qd7 13. Bd2 Rad8 14. Qc2 b6 15. Ba2 Nh5 16. Ne3 Bxa2 17. Rxa2 Ne7 18. d4 exd4 19. cxd4 d5 20. e5 Rc8 21. Ra3 c5 22. dxc5 Rxc5 23. Qd1 Nf4 24. b4 Rcc8 25. bxa5 bxa5 26. Bxa5 Nc6 27. Bc3 Nxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. Nxd5 Nxd5 30. Nxe5 Qe6 31. Rd3 Nf4 32. Rd6 Qa2 33. Rxh6 Qb2 34. Qd7 Qb3 35. Qf5 Ng6 36. Rxg6+ Black resigns.
Tan-Lei, FIDE Women’s World Championship Candidates Tournament, Toronto, April 2024
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Bg4 6. c3 e6 7. Qb3 Qc8 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nh4 Be7 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Be2 a6 13. h4 b5 14. h5 c4 15. Qd1 Qd8 16. Rg1 gxh5 17. gxh5 Bd6 18. Bg5 Be7 19. Bf4 Bd6 20. Bg5 Be7 21. f4 Rb8 22. a3 a5 23. Bh4 Kf8 24. Bg3 Bd6 25. Bh4 Ne7 26. Bxf6 gxf6 27. Bf1 b4 28. axb4 axb4 29. Bh3 f5 30. Qf3 Bc7 31. Ke2 Ng8 32. Qg3 Nf6 33. h6 Ke7 34. Qg5 Qf8 35.
Ra7 Rc8 36. Bg2 Rxh6 37. Nf3 Rh5 38. Qg3 Ne4 39. Qe1 bxc3 40. bxc3 Qg7 41. Bf1 Qh8 42. Qa1 Kf6 43. Rg2 Rh3 44. Ne5 Qh5+ 45. Ke1 Rxe3+ 46. Re2 Qh4+ 47. Kd1 Rxe2 48. Bxe2 Qxf4 49. Qb2 Rh8 50. Bf3 Rh2 51. Qc1 and White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.