19 April 2021

Ian Nepomniachtchi Becomes Sole Leader of FIDE Candidates Tournament

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave lost to Fabiano Caruana.

Photo: Lennart Ootes
Photo: Lennart Ootes


The Candidates Tournament resumed with a bang, as the latest challenger to the world championship title, Fabiano Caruana from the US, took down the leader of the tournament, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The American won in great style, sacrificing material in the opening in order to create a very sharp and dangerous position. The French Grandmaster fell in Caruana’s opening preparation, but he defended remarkably well in what seemed a minefield. “Horror. Pure horror”, is what a top player feels when he walks straight into his opponent’s preparation, according to Magnus Carlsen, who commentated the first round for Chess24.

However, the effort took its toll: after six hours of play, and when the worst seemed to be already behind, the tournament leader bit the dust. This was the most exciting game of the tournament so far, and one to be remembered for decades to come, where both players demonstrated an excellent level.

This result allows Caruana to climb to second place, while Ian Nepomniachtchi to emerge as the sole leader since his game against Anish Giri finished in a draw. Kirill Alekseenko outplayed his compatriot Alexander Grischuk, while the Chinese derby between Ding Liren and Wang Hao ended in a draw.

Caruana - Vachier Lagrave

Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played the so-called "Poisoned Pawn Variation" in the Najdorf variation in Sicilian Defense. Half a century ago, the legendary world chess champion Robert Fischer liked to use this line. At the very beginning of the game, Black bravely takes the b2-pawn with his queen but falls under a terrible attack. At the same time, boundless complications arise on the board. There are so many options here that even with the help of powerful modern computers it has not yet been possible to determine an accurate assessment of the position. As chess players joke, the winner here is the one who makes the penultimate mistake.

Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave are both famous for their extremely deep opening preparation, but the American grandmaster was better prepared for this game - his second, former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, found a very dangerous idea. Already in the area of the 15th move, Maxim began to think for a long time, while Fabiano was replying instantly. Until the 25th move Black, from the point of view of the "electronic mind", defended very well, but his decision to go to the endgame without an exchange for two pawns were unsuccessful since White's pieces developed a lot of activity. After numerous exchanges the game was transferred into the ending with pawn and rook vs pawn and knight and, to the surprise of most experts, an unbreakable fortress appeared on the board.

However, the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who was commenting on the games live on the Chess24 website, admitted that he was not sure of his ability to keep this position for Black - so difficult are the tasks before them. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also failed to cope with this task, although he was holding his position for a long time. But then he didn’t find the precise setup and allowed the white king to break into his camp. On move 74 Black had to resign.

Alekseenko – Grischuk

In the opening, Alexander Grischuk seems to have managed to surprise his opponent by choosing the French Defense, which is a rare guest in his long professional career. It is curious that in this game, as in the previous one, the black queen set out to hunt for the b2-pawn. By using an opened b-file, the white rook soon entered the opponent's camp, but then Kirill Alekseenko chose not to go for the most principled line and transferred the game into a calm, approximately equal endgame. Around move 30, the grandmasters got into time trouble and missed a small tactical blow. Even though Black won an exchange for a pawn, White got enough compensation due to the activity of the pieces and a strong passed pawn.

Both grandmasters were quite optimistic about their positions; as a result, Kirill Alekseenko's assessment turned out to be more accurate. Grischuk could have given his material back and move into an equal rook endgame but avoided drawing variations and overpressed at the end. Black's counterplay on the kingside turned out to be ineffective, and the Candidates Tournament debutant Kirill Alekseenko won his first game, also on move 74.

Nepomniachtchi - Giri

After the game, Ian said that he had prepared for many openings which Anish often uses, but yet the choice of his opponent turned out to catch him by surprise. “Sometimes a whole year is not enough to prepare for seven games,” Ian smiled.

Anish Giri: "I chose the Sveshnikov system which gives my opponent a choice: whether he wants to go for a double-edged fight with mutual chances or play solidly, but then Black, in my opinion, has no problems." The Russian grandmaster chose the first path but admitted that he played inaccurately. As a result, Anish Giri quickly equalized and on move 25 White began to repeat moves, insistently proposing the exchange of the light-squared bishops. Black could not afford an exchange, as in this case his position worsened significantly, so a draw was soon agreed due to the threefold repetition of the position.

Ian Nepomniachtchi: “I got sick by the end of the first half of the tournament and lost the last game, so, of course, I was not upset that the tournament was interrupted... When you often travel to tournaments, the happiest time is in between trips, but usually, it's only a week. When the pandemic hit, I realized that there is nothing wrong with having more rest and not going anywhere. Generally, like Hachiko, I have been waiting for the Candidates Tournament for the entire 2020”.

Anish Giri: “Recently I played over the board in Wijk aan Zee, so I didn’t forget how to put on a suit for the game. But I completely forgot how to pack my suitcase, since I hadn’t flown anywhere for more than a year. And, of course, completely unusual sensations arose in the lounge in Moscow airport, when I realized that it was possible to take off the mask and no one would demand to put it back on immediately”.

Wang Hao – Ding Liren

The Chinese grandmasters were the first to finish the fight in a little less than two hours. They played a sharp variation of the Scotch, where White gets more space in the centre and on the queenside but delays the development of his pieces. Ding Liren had a negative experience losing a rapid game in this line, so he improved his play and after exchange sacrifice, Black got a dangerous counterplay against the white king. Already on move 21, Black could have forced a draw with a perpetual check but since he didn’t risk anything, he decided to continue the fight. However, Wang Hao found a clear defence and a draw was agreed on the 28th move.

During the press conference, Wang Hao explained what he was doing during the break: “I didn’t consider it necessary to study chess for the whole last year, since I didn’t have any special invitations to online tournaments. Naturally, just before the Candidates Tournament, I spent a couple of months preparing. And before that, I spent quite a lot of time studying and improving my knowledge in the field of investments. I am always happy to use new opportunities and learn something new, but I really miss the tournaments and travelling, especially as a tourist."

According to Ding Liren, in this difficult time of crisis, he also had to somewhat change his activities, but he would like to return to the usual way of life of a professional chess player as soon as possible.

Standings after Round 8:

1. Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) - 5
2-3. Fabiano Caruana (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) - 4.5
4-5. Anish Giri (Netherlands), Wang Hao (China) - 4
6-7. Kirill Alekseenko, Alexander Grischuk (both from Russia) - 3.5
8. Ding Liren (China) - 3.

Pairings for Round 9:

Kirill Alekseenko - Fabiano Caruana
Alexander Grischuk - Ian Nepomniachtchi
Anish Giri - Wang Hao
Ding Liren - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

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Text by FIDE