Candidates Chess: Vidit Gujrathi dumps Nakamura; Gukesh downs Praggnanandhaa

TORONTO: Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi crashed through the defences of world number three Hikaru Nakamura of United States, while R Praggnanandhaa went down to compatriot D Gukesh in the second round of Candidates chess tournament here.

After four draws in the first round, all the four games in the second round ended decisively on Saturday.

Top seed American Fabiano Caruana was impressive in cruising past Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi outfoxed Firouza Alireza of France.

In the women’s section, R Vaishali went down fighting against Zhongyi Tan of China, while Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina proved superior than Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk.

In the other games in this section, Koneru Humpy played out a draw with Kateryna Lagno of Russia and Nurgyul Salimova signed peace with Tinjie Lei of China.

Gujrathi along with Caruana, Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh emerged as the early co-leaders of the event with 1.5 points apiece while Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa, Abasov and Alireza share the fifth spot on half a point each.

In the women’s section, Tan remained in sole lead with her second victory on the trot and Goryachkina was right behind her just half a point adrift.

Salimova, Humpy and Lagno share the third spot with one point in their bags and Lei, Vaishali and Muzychuk share the sixth spot with half a point to their credit.

A total of 12 rounds still remain in the biggest competition of the year that will decide the challengers for the next world championships matches.

For the second day running, Gujrathi stole the show. It is clear that the Indian has gotten past his last below-par performance in the Prague masters.

The Opening choice was a Berlin by Vidit who played his second black in a row. Nakamura was facing a finely crafted new idea as early as on move eight and the American was on his own. It was just three moves later that Gujrathi stunned his opponent with a Bishop sacrifice.

Accepting the sacrifice was the best way but Nakamura declined it and his position worsened slowly but surely. Vidit launched a king side attack soon and wrapped the issue in just 29 moves for a remarkable triumph.

Gujrathi’s dominance was certified by Nakamura, who was the first to say "good game" to the Indian.

Asked about summing up the game, the Indian said that it was a day when everything worked for him.

"Your prep comes in, he makes a mistake and you get a brilliant attack, cant add much to it," he said.

Praggnanandhaa’s Catalan opening yielded a decent yet extremely complex position in the opening. Gukesh, black, had to find things on the board and once he steered the game in to unchartered waters Praggnanandhaa was the first to err.

Gukesh could have been on top if he could find the best machine-like moves. However that did not happen and it was a wild position on board wherein Praggnanandhaa blundered amidst tactical complications. The game lasted 33 moves.

Caruana opened with the Rossolimo variation against Abasov’s Sicilian defense. The American got a tangible advantage in the middle game after a dubious pawn sacrifice by Abasov and technical part was handled quite well by the American.

Nepomniachtchi also faced the Berlin defense and parted with a pawn early in the middle game. While the compensation remained it was never clear till Alireza failed to find the best continuation in the middle game. The Russian, who is playing under the FIDE flag, pounced on his chances and scored his first victory.

In the women’s section, Vaishali was outdone by a not-so-regular queen pawn opening. Playing black, the Indian equalized quite easily trading off both Bishops early and slow manoeuvring ensued by both players wherein the Chinese was going after the black king.

It was on the 30th move that Vaishali blundered in her bid to keep the position closed, allowing a knights tango that resulted in material loss. The Chennai-based player called it a day after 34 moves.

Humpy did not get any chances as black against Lagno who played solidly in the Ruy Lopez. The pieces changed hands quickly and soon the players arrived at a level queen pawns endgame where the draw was a just result and was agreed on move 38.

Goryachkina capitalized on an optical blunder by Muzychuk who simply was not in her usual self. Losing a piece, the Ukrainian’s bid in this encounter ended in just 32 moves.

Salimove gave nothing away to Tingzie Lei in the Queen’s gambit accepted game where the Bulgarian played white. Going for an early trade of queens the Bulgarian had no troubles maintaining parity till the end. The players shook hands after 38 moves.

Results round 2 (Indians unless specified):

Ian Nepomniachtchi (Fid, 1.5) beat Firouza Alireza (0.5, Fra) R Praggnanandhaa (0.5) lost to D Gukesh (1.5); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 0.5) lost to Vidit Gujrathi (1.5); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 1.5) beat Nijat Abasov (Aze, 0.5).

Women: Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 2) beat R Vaishali (0.5); Kateryna Lagno (Ukr, 1) drew with K Humpy (1); Nurgyul Salimova (Bul, 1) drew with Tingkjie Lei (Chn, 0.5); Aleksandra Goryachkina (Fid, 1.5) beat Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 0.5).