21 June 2022

Ian Nepomniachtchi Takes Lead at FIDE Candidates Tournament

He defeated Alireza Firouzja in Round 4.

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


The fourth round of the FIDE Candidates Tournament finished in Madrid. Ian Nepomniachtchi crushed Alireza Firouzja as White: the former's preparation in a very sharp line of the Najdorf Sicilian was deeper than that of his opponent, and Ian managed to smash Black's position convincingly. The games Rapport - Nakamura, Duda - Radjabov, and Ding - Caruana were drawn.

Standings after Round 4:

1. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 3
2. Fabiano Caruana - 2.5
3-5. Richard Rapport, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Hikaru Nakamura - 2
6-8. Alireza Firouzja, Ding Liren, Teimour Radjabov - 1.5.

Round 5 pairings:

Nakamura - Nepomniachtchi, Caruana - Rapport, Radjabov - Ding, Firouzja - Duda.

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