FIDE Candidates Tournament: Ian Nepomniachtchi Stretches Lead up to 1.5 Points
Round 10 was played in Madrid.
The tenth round of the FIDE Candidates Tournament was played in Madrid. The leader Ian Nepomniachtchi made a rather calm draw against Teimour Radjabov with the white pieces. His closest pursuer Fabiano Caruana bucked the odds in his game against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. However, the Polish grandmaster cold-bloodedly refuted the opponent's risky pawn assault on the kingside, went into the offensive himself on the same part of the board, won a piece, and converted his material edge.
Hikaru Nakamura checkmated Alireza Firouzja's king with a direct attack. Richard Rapport was resourcefully breaking Ding Liren's defence, sacrificed the knight for a pawn in the young Kasparov's style but still didn't manage to confuse the Chinese grandmaster. Using a counter sacrifice, Ding grabbed the initiative and won in the endgame.
Standings after Round 10:
1. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 7
2-4. Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren - 5.5
5. Teimour Radjabov - 4.5
6-8. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Richard Rapport, Alireza Firouzja - 4.
Round 11 pairings:
Nakamura - Rapport, Firouzja - Nepomniachtchi, Radjabov - Duda, Caruana - Ding.
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