TWIC is 29. First issue 17th September 1994.
FIDE Candidates 2024 (5)
Gukesh joins Nepomniachtchi in the Candidates lead after an action packed Round 5
Mark Crowther - Wednesday 10th April 2024
Alireza Firouzja is having a tough time and lost to Nakamura in Round 5. Photo © | https://candidates.fide.com
The fifth round of the Candidates could have seen all four games finish decisively and in fact the two games that did were only decided by mistakes at the end of very long games and the two draws came after huge advantages were let go. In the end leaders were Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi half a point clear of Caruana and all three had good reason to thank their lucky stars today.
Praggnanandhaa doesn't need any encouragement to go for dangerous attacking ideas but that's nevertheless what the leader Nepomniachtchi did in grabbing a hot pawn in the Petroff. Nepomniachtchi couldn't find his way through the complications and after 23...Nc5? (23...Bxh2+) he was lost with the move 26.Qe5! being the killer blow, Praggnanandhaa didn't find this and Nepomniachtchi eventually escaped and stayed in the lead. Nepomniachtchi will always have weak moments like this, but if he isn't punished he's more than likely to just steamroller his way through the event as he has done twice before, this was a very big escape for him and bad news the rest of the field. He was joined in the lead by Gukesh who was not at all convincing in a very long win against Nijat Abasov, he kept getting big advantages and then frittering them away, at the end he had the pawn in a Queen and Pawn vs Queen endgame, really tricky for Abasov and although the position was drawn he understandably blundered and this time didn't escape. Santosh Vidit was straight up winning against Fabiano Caruana and contrived to find practically the only move on the board where he had to give perpetual check immediately. Hikaru Nakamura beat Alireza Firouzja in a game that came down to a tricky endgame where Nakamura had a knight and running pawns vs a rook. An obviously nervous Firouzja almost lost on time but the move he played put his King on a forking square which meant he couldn't stop one of Nakamura's pawns and he had to resign.
Round 5 Standings: 1st= Gukesh, Nepomniachtchi 3.5pts, 3rd Caruana 3pts, 4th= Praggnanandhaa, Nakamura 2.5pts, 6th Vidit 2pts, 7th= Abasov, Firouzja 1.5pts.
Round 6 10th April at 19:30BST: Gukesh-Nakamura, Vidit-Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa-Abasov, Nepomniachtchi-Caruana.
Round 5 Summary
Praggnanandhaa missed a win with white against the leader Ian Nepomniachtchi. This was a sharp Petroff Defence where Nepomniachtchi grabbed a hot pawn on c3. Praggnanandhaa replied aggressively 20...h6!? (20...g6 was calmer) 21.Nxf7 upped the tension, 23...Nc5? (23...Bxh2+ getting a pawn was the way) should have been the losing mistake, 26.Bf5? threw the winning advantage away, 26.Qe5 with the devastating threat of Rxh6+ should not have been hard for Praggnanandhaa to find, indeed he surely must have talked himself out of it, instead after 26...Nb7 white was only a bit better and after 29.Rd5?!= (29.Rd4 was still a bit better for white) the game was drawn without further adventures.
Gukesh eventually beat Nijat Abasov in a very long game where on a few occasions he was close to winning but then let the advantage go, he only converted in a Queen and Pawn endgame. 82....Kh5? (only 82...Kh7 is sufficient for a draw) was the final error. Abasov is the lowest rated player, everyone is trying to beat him, this is a very bad situation to be in.
Santosh Vidit missed a clean win against Fabiano Caruana in a 3.Bb5 Sicilian, 15...a5 (15...Nc5 was the best try) was a minor error, 21...Ra4 (21...Qa7!) was real trouble for black, 22...e5? (22...Rxh4 was the try) should have been the losing move, could he really have missed 23. Qg3? Vidit then blundered back in turn with 26.Qe5? (28.Kc2, 28.Kc1 when I checked there were at least 10 better moves, and maybe as many as 15) and after 26...Qa4! the game was drawn by perpetual check.
Hikaru Nakamura got back to 50% beating Alireza Firouzja in a very long game. This was a Giuoco Piano with a lot of manoeuvring, Nakamura had clearly equalised by move 20, and 25...d4 might have given him the edge, 29...Nc5? (29...Rc8=) was a mistake that gave Firouzja a small advantage, 31.Nh4?!= (31.Nd4 with an edge still). After 44.Rd2 (44.Red1=) white was worse again 48...Nc3 (48...Rc1) it was equal. Then we entered the final 10 minutes, which I saw on video later, after 58.Rxe8 Nakamura spent some time before playing 58...Nf4, this wasn't the only move but it was tricky, Firouzja started using up his remaining time and then he had to play a move immediately or lose on time and his 62.Kxd3? (many rook moves draw) was a loser as now the King is on a forking square with g2 which meant that the g-pawn couldn't be stopped by the rook and Firouzja had to resign.
| FIDE Candidates 2024 Toronto CAN (CAN), 3-26 iv 2024 | cat. XX (2745) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Gukesh, D | g | IND | 2743 | * | * | ½ | . | ½ | . | 1 | . | . | . | ½ | . | 1 | . | . | . | 3½ | 2882 |
| 2. | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | g | RUS | 2758 | ½ | . | * | * | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | 1 | . | ½ | . | 1 | . | 3½ | 2870 |
| 3. | Caruana, Fabiano | g | USA | 2803 | ½ | . | . | . | * | * | . | . | ½ | . | ½ | . | 1 | . | ½ | . | 3 | 2802 |
| 4. | Praggnanandhaa, R | g | IND | 2747 | 0 | . | ½ | . | . | . | * | * | ½ | . | 1 | . | . | . | ½ | . | 2½ | 2755 |
| 5. | Nakamura, Hikaru | g | USA | 2789 | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | ½ | . | * | * | 0 | . | ½ | . | 1 | . | 2½ | 2733 |
| 6. | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | g | IND | 2727 | ½ | . | 0 | . | ½ | . | 0 | . | 1 | . | * | * | . | . | . | . | 2 | 2696 |
| 7. | Abasov, Nijat | g | AZE | 2632 | 0 | . | ½ | . | 0 | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | * | * | ½ | . | 1½ | 2621 |
| 8. | Firouzja, Alireza | g | FRA | 2760 | . | . | 0 | . | ½ | . | ½ | . | 0 | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | * | 1½ | 2596 |
| Round 5 (April 9, 2024) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gukesh, D | - Abasov, Nijat | 1-0 | 87 | C43 | Petroff's Defence | |
| Praggnanandhaa, R | - Nepomniachtchi, Ian | ½-½ | 44 | C42 | Petroff's Defence | |
| Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | - Caruana, Fabiano | ½-½ | 30 | B30 | Sicilian Rossolimo | |
| Firouzja, Alireza | - Nakamura, Hikaru | 0-1 | 63 | C50 | Giuoco Piano | |
FIDE World Championship Candidates 2024
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