Candidates R12: Naka and Gukesh join the lead, Caruana scores

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/19/2024 – Round 12 of the Candidates Tournament saw three players scoring full points to greatly increase their chances of achieving overall victory. Hikaru Nakamura and Gukesh D defeated Alireza Firouzja and Nijat Abasov respectively to join Ian Nepomniachtchi in the lead, while Fabiano Caruana got the better of Vidit Gujrathi to go into the final two rounds at a half-point distance from the co-leaders. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

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Four players in contention

Two rounds ago, six players remained in contention for first place in a very close race at the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. On Wednesday and Thursday, though, Praggnanandhaa R and Vidit Gujrathi suffered losses that left them out of the fight going into the final two rounds of the event.

In round 11, Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbed the sole lead by achieving a 67-move victory in his dramatic encounter against Vidit. Then, in round 12, Hikaru Nakamura and Gukesh D caught up with the Russian grandmaster by defeating Alireza Firouzja and Nijat Abasov, respectively. The three co-leaders are tied for first place with 7½ points each (a plus-three score).

Thursday’s round also saw Fabiano Caruana beating Vidit to remain in contention going forward, as he now stands a half point behind the leaders. Following a painful loss against Nakamura, Caruana scored wins the next two times he played with the white pieces. Importantly, the top seed is set to face Nepomniachtchi — with white — in the final round.

The player who will enter the deciding rounds with the most momentum surely is Nakamura, who scored three consecutive wins in rounds 10-12. In fact, the last time the famous streamer signed a draw in the event was in the seventh round, when he split a point with Nepomniachtchi — he went on to beat Caruana and lose to Vidit in rounds 8 and 9, before scoring the hat-trick that left him tied for first.

Out of the three co-leaders, Nakamura is also the player who has collected the most wins so far in the event (and the most losses, of course), with 5 victories and 2 losses to his name. Gukesh has suffered 1 loss, while Nepomniachtchi is the only participant to remain undefeated in Toronto (in either of the two categories).

Find below the pairings of the final two rounds, set to take place on Saturday and Sunday. In case of a tie for first place, all participants sharing the lead will play a rapid (and blitz, if necessary) tiebreaker on Monday.

Round 13 on 2024/04/20 at 14:30
Rtg Name Result Name Rtg
2758
GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian GM Nakamura, Hikaru
2789
2747
GM Praggnanandhaa, R GM Caruana, Fabiano
2803
2727
GM Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi GM Abasov, Nijat
2632
2743
GM Gukesh, D GM Firouzja, Alireza
2760
Round 14 on 2024/04/21 at 14:30
Rtg Name Result Name Rtg
2789
GM Nakamura, Hikaru GM Gukesh, D
2743
2760
GM Firouzja, Alireza GM Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
2727
2632
GM Abasov, Nijat GM Praggnanandhaa, R
2747
2803
GM Caruana, Fabiano GM Nepomniachtchi, Ian
2758

Results - Round 12

Dommaraju Gukesh

Will Gukesh become a World Championship challenger at 17? | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Nakamura 1 - 0 Firouzja

Analysis by André Schulz

Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja

Hikaru Nakamura obtained a third win in a row on Thursday | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza


Expert analysis by GM Daniel King


Abasov 0 - 1 Gukesh

Analysis by André Schulz

Nijat Abasov

Nijat Abasov | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

Caruana 1 - 0 Vidit

Analysis by André Schulz

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza


Expert analysis by IM Robert Ris


Standings after round 12

All games


A completely exhausted Ian Nepomniachtchi!

Vaishali and her mother, Nagalakshmi

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.