Gukesh becomes co-leader after his victory over Nijat in the fifth round; Praggnanandhaa and Vidit play draws – Firstpost
R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi were also in action on Tuesday, against Nepomniachtchi and Fabio Caruana respectively, but the two experienced players held their respective Indian opponents to a draw.
Indian chess grandmaster D Gukesh on Tuesday rose to first place in the 2024 Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto, Canada. He did so after defeating Azerbaijani grandmaster Nijat Abasov, with the match lasting nearly six hours and requiring 87 moves. The victory brought Gukesh to 3.5 points, tied with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi.
R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi were also in action on Tuesday, against Nepomniachtchi and Fabio Caruana respectively, but the two experienced players held their respective Indian opponents to a draw.
Gujrathi had beaten world number 3 Hikaru Nakamura but suffered back-to-back defeats to Praggnanandhaa and Nepomniachtchi in the third and fourth rounds. The draw helped Gujrathi end their two-game losing streak.
In the women’s category, Anna Muzychuk held R Vaishali to a draw while Koneru Humpy also drew against Aleksandra Goryachkina. The draw means that Vaishali is in fourth place while Koneru Humpy is in sixth place. While Gujesh leads jointly with Ian Nepomniachtchi, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi occupy the fourth and sixth positions respectively.
Round 5 results (Indians unless otherwise noted)
Men: D Gukesh (3.5) beat Nijat Abasov (Aze, 1.5); Praggnanandhaa (2.5) tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 3.5); Vidit Gujrathi (2) drew with Fabiano Caruana (3); Alireza Firouza (Fra, 1.5) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2.5)
Women: R Vaishali (2.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 2); Koneru Humpy (2) drew with Aleksandra Goriyatchkina (FID, 3); Tan Zhongyi (Chi, 3.5) drew with Nurgyul Salimova (Bul, 2.5); Le Tingjie (Chi, 2) drew with Katryena Lagno (FID, 2.5)
