The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 has begun in Toronto, Canada and will determine who will challenge Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship match next year.
All four games in the Men’s tournament finished in a draw yesterday. One would call it “a cautious play“, but the games were surprisingly wild for the inaugural Candidates round.
>Women's Candidates Round 1 recap is available here. Nijat Abasov and Ian Nepomniachtchi were one of the first players to finish their game and leave the playing hall. Abasov played whites and made a comfortable draw against Nepomniachtchi. The position was inconvenient, but both players showed full preciseness and the evaluation bar never went far from zeros.
Nijat Abasov vs Ian Nepomniachtchi 1/2-1/2
In the post-game interview, Abasov revealed why he wears a special knee brace. “Everyone told me I had to work on my physical shape, so I played a football match, and unfortunately, I tore my ACL. After that, I had to undergo surgery about a month ago, and now I am recovering”. But the injury did not stop him to compete in the Candidates.
Gukesh D and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi signed a draw after only 21 moves of play but we could’ve seen brilliance on the board. Vidit played mindblowing 17…Bg4 leaving his Bishop on the attacked square, but it was a sound sacrifice and Gukesh needed to go for a threefold repetition.
Gukesh D vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 1/2-1/2
Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, one of the spectator favourites, did not disappoint with an exciting game. Nakamura opening choice with 5โฆe5 came as a surprise for Caruana who later admitted that he didn’t analyze it in depth before the game. Nevertheless, Caruana got a comfortable position, which went into a very wild continuation with Nakamura’s rook sacrifice.
Fabi saw the trap and kept the clear advantage by not taking the free rook, but then opted for a safe endgame with less pieces on the board. And just when it seemed the position is fairly stable, Hikaru went for another shocking sacrifice of the rook which was sound yet again. Despite a pawn dawn, Nakamura held a draw with brilliant play and beautiful tactical motives.
The last ongoing game of the first round was played between Praggnanandhaa and Alireza Firouzja. The two youngsters played a very double-edged game, with both sides striving to reach the opponent’s king.
Firouzja had his chances to gain a clear advantage with 31.Reg2!, but he missed it and the game finished in a draw with a perpetual check shortly after.
