Candidates R10: Ding and Naka strike as Caruana falters

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/30/2022 – Fighting chess was the rule rather than the exception in round 10 of the Candidates Tournament. All the players — except Ian Nepomniachtchi, naturally — chose fighting lines, attempting to win at all costs, as the event is coming to an end and first place is all that matters. In the end, Ding Liren and Hikaru Nakamura won and caught up with Fabiano Caruana in shared second place, as the latter overplayed his hand and was defeated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

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Going for it!

Ian NepomniachtchiSave for the draw in Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Teimour Radjabov, Wednesday’s games in Madrid were filled with excitement. Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren and Alireza Firouzja all played sharp — albeit questionable — variations with the black pieces, inviting their opponents to a full-on tactical battle from the get go.

Out of the three, only Ding succeeded, as he grabbed his second consecutive win by beating Richard Rapport. Caruana and Firouzja, on the other hand, quickly found themselves on the back foot and were eventually taken down by Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Hikaru Nakamura respectively.

Wednesday’s results allowed Ding and Nakamura to join Caruana in shared second place. Nepomniachtchi’s lead has extended to 1½ points, though, with only four rounds to go. Talking with the official commentary team, Nepo emphasized what he had stated in the previous edition of the Candidates — which he won:

As I said two years ago, it’s very important to try not to lose. If you don’t lose, it’s surely going alright.

Indeed, Nepo is the only undefeated player in the field. Out of the three players standing 1½ points behind him, only Nakamura will get a chance to face the leader in what remains of the event, as he will get the black pieces against the Russian in Friday’s twelfth round.

[Pictured: Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: David Llada]

Firouzja invites Naka’s attack

Early in the round, the ever-ambitious Firouzja (who just turned 19 years old) played a novelty that had the clear intention of shaking things up against Nakamura’s positional approach in a Najdorf Sicilian.

 
Nakamura vs. Firouzja

Thirteen years ago, Alexander Morozevich had grabbed the knight with the queen before getting a 41-move draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Firouzja’s 10...gxf6 was certainly somewhat of a gamble, as there is little that justifies his damaging the pawn structure and opening a file on the flank where he will most likely need to place his king.

Not one to hurry, Nakamura began to improve his pieces gradually, trying to make the most of the holes created in Black’s position. In a dynamic middlegame, the multiple US champion correctly gave up an exchange in order to place his knight on a dominating outpost.

 

White entered this line aware of the fact that the rook on d5 cannot be defended — in return, after 23.Nxd4 Qxd5 24.Nf5, White gets a hold of the weakened dark squares on Black’s camp.

Firouzja’s position crumbled quickly. Resignation came on move 32, after the disadvantages of capturing with the g-pawn in the opening had been fully exploited by Nakamura.

 

There is no defence.

 
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1.e4 4 c5 4 2.Nf3 10 d6 23 3.d4 0 cxd4 8 4.Nxd4 2 Nf6 10 5.Nc3 7 a6 5 6.Be3 20 e5 23 7.Nf3 6 Nc6 9:25 B90: Sicilian Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5. 8.Bc4 11:06 Hoping for Ng5. Be6 26 9.Nd5 8:10 Black must now prevent Bb6. Rc8 16:32 The position is equal. 9...Nxe4? 10.Bb6 Bxd5 11.Bxd8 Bxc4 12.Bb6± 10.Nxf6+ 30:52
10...gxf6N 5:22 Predecessor: 10...Qxf6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.0-0 Qg6 13.Nd2 Be7 14.c4 0-0 15.Rc1 Rc7 16.f3 Bg5 17.Bxg5 Qxg5 ½-½ (39) Adams,M (2723)-Bologan,V (2732) Konya 2012 11.Bb3 7:51 Ne7 19:27 12.0-0 0 Bxb3 15:19 13.axb3 0 d5 36 Against c4 14.exd5 10 Qxd5 0 15.Qe2 1:42 Nf5 7:15 16.Rfd1 1:40 Qc6 6:48 16...Qe6= 17.c4 37 Bg7 0 18.Rd5 1:04 White is more active. 0-0 21 19.Rad1 18 Rfe8 1:05 20.h3 4:49 b5 6:01 21.c5 3:17 21.cxb5?! axb5 22.Qxb5 Nxe3 23.Qxc6 23.fxe3 Bh6= 23...Rxc6 White should try 21.Bc5!± 21...Bf8 52 Much less strong is 21...Nd4 22.Nxd4! exd4 23.R5xd4± 23.R1xd4 f5± 21...a5!= keeps the balance. 22.b4± 7:50 Nd4 1:00
22...Qa8± is a better defense. 23.Nxd4!+- 3:55 Qxd5 4 24.Nf5 3:19 Qe4 7:27 25.Qh5 28 aiming for Rd7. White has strong compensation. Red8 30 Against Rd7 25...Rcd8± was necessary. 26.Ra1 Qc6 26.Ra1 3:33 Really sharp! Rc6 1:44 26...Qxb4? 27.Rxa6 Rd7 28.Rxf6+- 26...Ra8 might work better. 27.Bh6 Kh8 27.Bh6 2:52 Kh8 4:13
27...Qxb4 28.Bxf8 Qf4 29.Nh6+ Kh8 30.Nxf7+ Kg8 31.Nxd8 Qg5 32.Qf7+ Kh8 33.Ra3 28.Ra3! 26 Bxf8 is the strong threat. Qxb4 3:30 29.Bxf8 1:39 White mates. Rxf8 1 30.Qh6 23 Rg8 11 31.Rg3 6 Rxg3 32 32.fxg3 4 Weighted Error Value: White=0.11 (very precise) /Black=0.76
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2760Firouzja,A28041–02022FIDE Candidates Tournament 202210.4

Hikaru Nakamura

Certainly one of the most popular chess players in the world — streamer and elite GM Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

Duda no longer winless

The one player who had remained winless after nine rounds in Madrid put an end to his bad streak in round 10. Much like Nakamura, Duda saw his opponent risking it all on the kingside. Caruana clearly saw this as a chance to close on Nepo in the standings.

 
Duda vs. Caruana

After a 25-minute think, Caruana went for the difficult-to-justify 17...g5. Duda immediately began to rearrange his pieces for a potential kingside attack, as Black’s knight was merely an onlooker from a5.

 

Only at this point, on move 35, Caruana managed to begin the regrouping of his knight with 35...Nb7. His bishop on d6 does not make a great impression either, while White counts with two sneaky knights helping his major pieces to create threats on the kingside.

It was not a trivial conversion, but Duda never lost the grip and grabbed his first full point of the event after 57 moves.

 
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1.e4 3 e5 4 2.Nf3 5 Nc6 4 3.Bc4 6 Bc5 8 4.c3 0 Nf6 7 5.d3 5 d6 38 6.0-0 12 a6 9 7.a4 8 C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3. Ba7 14 8.Re1 0 0-0 52 The main line 8...0-0 scores better than 8...h6. 9.h3 19 The position is equal. Be6 1:41 10.Bxe6 1:07 fxe6 14 11.b4 11 Nh5 1:01
12.Nbd2!?N 0 An interesting novelty. Predecessor: 12.Ra2 Qe8 13.Be3 Nf4 14.Bxa7 Rxa7 15.Kh2 b5 16.g3 Nh5 17.Kg2 Qg6 18.Re3 bxa4 0-1 (48) Jones,G (2672)-Van Foreest,J (2714) chess24.com INT 2022 12...Nf4 5:35 13.Nf1 1:04 Qf6 10:19 Hoping for ...Nxh3+! 14.Bxf4 3:33 Qxf4 4 15.Qb3 5:00 Rf6 8:59 16.b5 8:35 Na5 10:07 17.Qa2 0 g5 25:58 17...Raf8= 18.N1h2! 14:14 Rg6 11 19.d4! 1:01 h5 1:47 20.g3 11:06 Qf6 37 21.Rad1 4:49 Rg7 0 22.Kh1 3:08 aiming for dxe5. Rf8 14:52 22...g4!= 23.dxe5 dxe5 24.hxg4 hxg4 23.dxe5± 13:21 dxe5 4 23...Qe7 24.Rf1 Bc5 24.h4!+- 8 gxh4 2:12 25.gxh4 40 Bc5 10:42 26.Rg1 5:01 Bd6 6:12 27.Ng5 2:23 Kh8 0 28.Qe2 2:49 Qg6 3 29.Rd3 7:39 29.bxa6 bxa6 30.Qxa6 Nb3+- 29...axb5 3:18 30.Rdg3 0 Qe8 23 30...bxa4? 31.Nxe6!+- 31.axb5 1:40 Rf6 19 32.Qf1? 6:30 32.Qd3+- 32...b6 40 Better is 32...Nb3! 33.Qg2 7 33.Qd3± 33...Qf8 1:44 33...Qxb5 34.Nxe6! 33...Qg8! 34.Qh3± 0 Qg8 34 35.R1g2 2:15 Nb7 22
35...Be7 36.Nh7! 20 White is really pushing. Pair of Knights! Rfg6 52 36...Qxh7? 37.Rxg7 Qxg7 38.Rxg7 Kxg7 39.Qg3+ Rg6 40.Qf3+- 37.Rxg6 4:17 37.Nf6?! Rxg3 38.Rxg3 Qf7 39.Rxg7 Kxg7 40.Qg2+ Kf8= 37...Rxg6 2
38.Ng5! 24 White is more active. Much weaker is 38.Nf6?! Qf7 39.Rxg6 Qxg6 40.Qxe6 Kg7 41.Ne8+ Kh6= 38...Rf6 16 Against Qf3 39.f4 1:29 Threatens to win with fxe5. Nc5? 24
A mistake that costs the game. 39...exf4? 40.e5 Bxe5 41.Qf3+- 39...Qe8± 40.fxe5!+- 0 Bxe5 0 41.Ngf3 2:54 Qa8 10:58 42.Nxe5 4:30 Nxe4 1:54 ( -> ...Nf2+) 43.Nhf3 3:10 Qa1+ 0 44.Kh2 2:40 Qc1 6:46 45.Nd3 13:31 Inhibits Qf4+. Qxc3 5:41
46.Ra2! 2:03 Nf2 5:15 46...Qxd3? 47.Ra8+ Kg7 48.Qg2+ Ng5 49.Qxg5+ Qg6 50.Nd4+- 46...Rf5 47.Ra8+ 47.Rxf2 3:57 White is clearly winning. Not 47.Ra8+ Kg7 48.Nxf2 Qxf3 49.Qg3+ Qxg3+ 50.Kxg3 Rf5± 47...Qxd3 6 48.Qg3 7 White threatens Rg2! and mate. Qd6 1:48 49.Qxd6 1:26 cxd6 4 Endgame KRN-KR 50.Kg3 7 Rf5 1:38 51.Rd2 48 Rxb5 1:43 52.Rxd6 20 Kg7 5 53.Rxe6 35 Rb4 0 54.Re5 30 Kh6 17 55.Rd5 9 Rb1 1:01 56.Nd4 34 Rg1+ 25 57.Kf4 6 Weighted Error Value: White=0.21 (precise) /Black=0.49
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Duda,J2750Caruana,F27861–02022FIDE Candidates Tournament 202210.2

Fabiano Caruana, Jan-Krzysztof Duda

A great photographic eye combined with a marvellous playing venue — Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Fabiano Caruana in the mirror | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

Ding quietly joins the fight

For Ding, the tournament has been a tale of multiple missed chances after his first-round loss against Nepomniachtchi. Now that the event is coming to a close, though, he has collected back-to-back wins to climb to shared second place in the standings.

Similarly to both aforementioned games, Black did not shy away from entering complications early on. Rapport, who was playing white, responded in kind, as he provoked the creation of further imbalances with his knight jump on move 33.

 
Rapport vs. Ding

The Hungarian’s 33.Nc4 intends to open lines around the weakened black king. Both 33...Qxb4 and 33...dxc4 are playable. Ding went for the latter alternative, which is also the most critical.

After 34.dxc4, the Chinese immediately invited his opponent to grab an exchange with 34...Rc6, as he foresaw how things could quickly go wrong for him if White was allowed to coordinate his pieces. (See Jan Markos’ latest ‘Winning Academy’ article, which highlights the importance of defence in professional chess).

Rapport quickly replied with 35.Ba4

 

The tactical skirmish continued, until a host of simplifications resulted in an endgame with rook and bishop against two bishops, in which Black had the upper hand.

 

In this setup, the bishop pair, the passer on the b-file and the active king grant Black a clear advantage. Rapport tried 46.Rxd4 exd4 47.Bxd4+, entering an opposite-coloured bishops endgame. But in this case this is not enough to save a draw.

Ding’s king continued to march down the board, and Rapport decided to call it a day eight moves later.

 
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1.e4 3 e5 9 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 4 3.Bb5 1:33 a6 17 4.Ba4 11 Nf6 5 5.d3 48 b5 35 6.Bb3 13 Bc5 6 7.Bg5 26 h6 1:02 C77: Ruy Lopez: 3...a6 4 Ba4 Nf6, unusual lines. 8.Bh4 8 d6 1:08 8...Be7 is setting a new trend. 9.c3 1:44 Ba7!? 2:52 The position is equal. Leaves trodden paths. 10.0-0 5:26 Na5 15 11.Bc2 0
11...c5N 16 Predecessor: 11...g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.a4 Nxg3 14.hxg3 Nc6 15.axb5 axb5 16.Na3 Ba6 17.Bb3 Ne7 1-0 (29) Caruana,F (2800)-Burke,J (2554) Saint Louis 2021 12.Nbd2 16:37 g5 0 13.Bg3 10 Nh5 21 14.a3 8:50 Rb8 16:48 15.Kh1 0 Rb7 5:38 16.b4 2:04 Nc6 18 17.Bb3 33 Rc7 2:51 18.Bd5 12:26 g4 0 19.Bh4 3:17 Ne7 7:05 20.Ng1 4:57 cxb4 2:32 21.axb4 1:47 Rxc3 4:35 22.Ne2 2:09 Rc7 49 22...Rxd3? 23.Bc6+ 23.Qc2 Rxd5 24.exd5 0-0= 23...Bd7 24.Bxd7+ 24.Rxa6 f6± 24...Qxd7 25.Qc2+- 25.Rxa6 Qb7± 23.f4 9:15 f6 3:05 24.fxe5 0 dxe5 3:58 24...Nxd5 25.exd5 dxe5 26.Ne4 25.Ng3! 4:40 Nxg3+ 16 25...Nxd5? 26.Nxh5 Nf4 27.Nxf6+ Kf7 28.g3 Qxd3 29.Nxg4+- 26.hxg3 2 Rf8 5 26...Nxd5? 27.exd5 0-0 28.Ne4+- 27.Rxf6 4:33 27.Rc1!= 27...Rxf6 19 28.Bxf6 3 Qd6 0 29.Qf1 1:01 29.Bxe7 Qxe7 30.Qe2 Bd4-+ 29...Bd4 29:17 29...Nxd5?! 30.exd5 Qxd5 31.Ne4= 30.Bf7+ 53 Kd7 59 Black should try 30...Kd8! 31.Rd1 Be6 31.Rd1= 1:08 Rc2 1:49 32.Bb3 1:51 White is pushing. Rc7 1:12 33.Nc4 5:51 bxc4 50 34.dxc4 10 Rc6 3:51 34...Qxb4? 35.Bxe5 Kc6 36.Rxd4+- 36.Qf6+ Kb7± 35.Ba4 36 Kc7 4 35...Qxb4?! 36.Bxc6+ Nxc6 37.Bxe5 Nxe5 38.Rxd4+ Ke7 39.Rd5= 36.Bxc6 31 Nxc6 0 37.b5 10 Black must now prevent c5. Nb4 1:34 37...Na5 38.c5= 42 Qe6 2 Threatens to win with ...Nc2. 38...Qxc5? 39.Rc1 Nc2 40.Qd3+- 39.Bh4! 0 39.b6+? Kb7 40.Bd8 40.Rc1? Qf7-+ 40...Qe8-+ 39...Bxc5 11:10 40.Rc1 0 Qd6 0 41.Qc4 27:05 Nd3 19 42.Rc3 1:05 42.Be7!= was the only way to keep the balance. Qxe7 43.Qxd3 42...axb5 0 43.Qxd3 1:56 Qxd3 14 Chess con chili. 44.Rxd3 2 Endgame And now Rc3 would win. KRB-KB Bd4 17 Against Rc3+ 45.Bf6 4:59 45.Rb3 Bd7 46.Be7 45...Kb6!-+ 6:52 Strongly threatening ...b4. 46.Rxd4 58 46.Be7-+ 46...exd4 3 47.Bxd4+ 0 KB-KB Ka5! 1 48.Kg1 1:20 b4 0 49.Kf2 20
49...Ka4! 0 50.Ke3 3:41
50...Kb3! 3 ( -> ...Kc2) 51.Kf4? 12:20 Loses the game. 51.Kd2 51...Kc2 8 Black mates. 52.Ke5 6 b3 30 53.Kd6 1:03 Kd3 42 54.Ba1 2:01 Kxe4 11 Stronger than 54...Kc2 55.e5= 55.Kc5 9 Kd3 13 Weighted Error Value: White=0.39/Black=0.05 (flawless)
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2776Ding,L28060–12022FIDE Candidates Tournament 202210.1

Richard Rapport

Richard Rapport | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage


Nakamura’s recap: “Dear YouTube, I destroyed Firouzja”


Round 10 results

 

Standings after round 10

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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.

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