Ian Nepomniachtchi Beats Alireza Firouzja in Round 11 of FIDE Candidates Tournament

Three more rounds are ahead.

The 11th round of the FIDE Candidates Tournament is concluded in Madrid. The leader Ian Nepomniachtchi had the black pieces against Alireza Firouzja. The young French grandmaster executed a very risky pawn offensive on the kingside thus weakening his own monarch's position. In a key moment, Ian grabbed the initiative, having sacrificed a piece, and managed to make use of the poor cooperation of his opponent's pieces. Soon Nepomniachtchi achieved a material edge himself. Firouzja resigned on the 35th move. 

Fabiano Caruana, who had White against Ding Liren, skillfully attacked the rival's bastions and got a sizeable advantage at some point. However, then he played inaccurately, and Ding managed to equalise. The tournament situation made Fabiano continue fighting for a win: as a result, he went too far and lost. 

The games Nakamura - Rapport and Radjabov - Duda were drawn. 

 

 
Standings after Round 11:

1. Ian Nepomniachtchi - 8
2. Ding Liren - 6.5
3. Hikaru Nakamura - 6
4. Fabiano Caruana - 5.5
5. Teimour Radjabov - 5
6-7. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Richard Rapport - 4.5
8. Alireza Firouzja - 4.

Round 12 pairings:

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

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