29 June 2022

FIDE Candidates Tournament: Ian Nepomniachtchi Stretches Lead up to 1.5 Points

Round 10 was played in Madrid.

Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage


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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