Stabilizing
Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbed the sole lead of the Candidates in Tuesday’s fourth round. Almost a week later, he has stabilized his spot atop the standings. On Saturday, Nepo beat Richard Rapport in a game that should have ended in a quick draw; the very next day, he drew Ding Liren in a game that — once again — saw him playing quickly from start to finish.
And he now has a full-point lead over Fabiano Caruana.
Caruana, who had kept up with Nepo’s pace by scoring back-to-back wins in rounds 6 and 7, suffered his first loss of the event on Sunday. Hikaru Nakamura beat him from the white side of a theoretical Ruy Lopez. A static pawn structure established in the middlegame favoured Naka’s newfound style — the one he has embraced since he became a full-time streamer.
Black has a rook and two pawns for White’s two minor pieces. Black also has more space than his opponent — albeit this might turn out to be a disadvantage in the long run, since the pawns will become easier to target for the white army.
A more dynamic struggle would have favoured Caruana given the material imbalances, but in this stable position, White has plenty of time to manoeuvre his minor pieces to ideal spots without fearing a sudden attack by his opponent. In the diagrammed position, Naka began rearranging his pieces with the oft-undesirable 25.Nh1 — which, in this case, is the best move in the position!
A great display of positional understanding allowed Nakamura to maximize his pieces’ potential. It was a slow process, but by move 58 the 5-time US champion had greatly activated his army while effectively eliminating almost all of Black’s counterplay.
Here Naka, once again, chose the most reliable approach by playing 59.Be1, as he dealt with Black’s one threat in the position. He prevented Caruana from playing ...Re8+ and ...e1Q, grabbing the bishop. Naka’s move was, in fact, an imprecision.
Caruana continued with 59...Re8+ and, for a second time in a row, White’s safety-first attitude (he played 60.Kf4 instead of the more active 60.Kd4) prompted the spectators to wonder whether Caruana was on his way to escape with a half point.
In the diagrammed position, White’s best move is the immediate 59.Kd4, and after 59...Re8 60.Rxa6 (not even here 60.Be1 is necessary) e1Q 61.Bxe1 Rxe1 White is completely winning with his queenside passer and active, coordinated pieces.
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Naka’s choices gave Caruana’s fans some hope, although White still had an advantage. The potential escape prompted Australian GM David Smerdon to consider writing a sequel to his excellent The Complete Chess Swindler.
But it was not meant to be for Caruana, who faltered five moves later and allowed his opponent to regain his clear advantage. Naka ended up scoring a memorable 72-move victory in what turned out to be an extremely tense and hard-fought battle.
Naka now stands a half point behind Caruana in sole third place. A complete shake-up of the tournament’s standings might be completed in Monday’s ninth round, when Nepo will get the black pieces in the all-important direct encounter against Caruana!
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 Nxf2 12.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 f6 14.Nf1! fxe5 15.Kg1 Qd6 16.Be3 Bf5 17.Bb3 Rad8 18.Qe1 Na5 19.Qf2 Nb7 20.Re1 20...c5N 20...Bg4 21.Qg3 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Na5 23.Bc2 Nc4 24.Bc1 Rde8 25.Ne3 Kh8 26.Kg2 Re6 21.Ng3 21.Bg5 e4 22.Bxd8 Qxd8 23.Ne5 21...Bd3 21...Bg6!? 22.Qd2 h6 22.Qd2 c4 23.Bd1 Rd7 24.Bf2 Rdf7 25.Nh1 25.Rxe5 Rxf3! 26.Bxf3 Qxe5-+ 25...e4 26.Nd4 Qg6 27.h4 Nc5 27...h5= 28.h5 Qd6 29.Bg4! h6 30.Qe3! Qf4 31.Qxf4 Rxf4 32.Ne6 Nxe6 33.Bxe6+ Kh7 34.Bxd5 R8f5 35.Bc6 Rxh5 36.Bd4 Rhf5 37.Nf2 Rf7 38.b4 h5 38...cxb3± 39.axb3 Rc7 40.Bxe4+ 40.Nxd3 exd3 41.Bd5 b4 40...Bxe4 39.a4+- 39.Nxe4 Rf1+ 40.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 41.Kh2 Ra1± 39.Bxe4+ Bxe4 40.Nxe4 40.Rxe4 Rxe4 41.Nxe4 Kg6= 40...Rg4 39...bxa4 40.Bxa4 h4 40...R4f5 41.g4 Rf3 41.Be3 R4f5 42.Ra1! h3 43.Ra2 43.Nxh3?! Rf1+ 44.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 45.Kh2 Re1 46.Ng5+ Kg6 47.Be8+ Kf6 43.gxh3 Rf3 44.Re1 Rg3+ 45.Kh2 Rxe3! 46.Rxe3 Rxf2+ 47.Kg3 Rf6 43...hxg2 44.Bd1 R7f6 45.Bg4! 45.Kxg2?! Rg6+ 46.Kh2 Bf1± 45...Rd5 46.Kxg2 Rg6 47.Kg3! Bf1 48.Bd4! 48.Nxe4?! Re5 49.Ng5+ Rexg5 50.Bxg5 Rxg5± 48...Bd3 48...Rf5 49.Nxe4 Bd3 49.Kf4 Kg8 50.Bf5 Rh6 50...Rc6 51.Nxd3 51.Bxe4 Bxe4 52.Nxe4 Rh5+- 51.Nxe4 g5+ 52.Kg4 Rh6± 51...exd3 51.Ng4 Rhd6 52.Ne3 Rb5 53.Bc5 Rf6 54.Ke5 Kf7 55.Nd5 Rxf5+ 56.Kxf5 e3+ 57.Ke5 e2 58.Bf2 Rb8 59.Be1 Re8+ 60.Kf4 60.Kd4+- 60...g5+± 61.Kg3 Re6 61...Re5± 62.Kf2 62.Ra1!+- 62...Rh6 63.Ke3 Re6+ 64.Kf2 Rh6! 65.Ne3 Rf6+ 65...Rh1± 66.Ng2 g4 66.Kg3+- Rf1 67.Ng2! Rf6 68.Bf2 Kg6 69.Ra5 Re6 70.Ne1 Bf5 71.Nf3 Rd6 72.Nd4 72.Ne5+ Kf6 73.Be1 73.Nxc4 Rd3+ 74.Kh2 Bc8± 73...Be6+- 72...Bd3 73.Re5 Kf6 74.Nf3 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Nakamura,H | 2760 | Caruana,F | 2786 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 | 8.3 |
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Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alireza Firouzja taking a (studied) look at the all-American battle | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
Rapport beats Duda
After losing his first game of the event on Saturday — following six draws in a row — Richard Rapport bounced right back by collecting a crashing victory over Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
A contested opening stage saw the action mostly taking place on the kingside, where both monarchs stood somewhat vulnerable to attacks. Rapport, playing white, had the more active pieces though.
The cold-blooded engines evaluate this position as equal, but from a human point of view it is easier to see White getting attacking chances on the kingside. While Rapport will get to stack his major pieces on the g and h-files, Duda needs to find manoeuvres that do not spoil his position — to add insult to injury, the Polish grandmaster was down on the clock at this point.
There followed 24...Rae7 25.Qf3 g6 (this was not necessary, better was 25...f6) 26.Rh1. And then Duda played the hasty 26...f5
After 27.Kg1, preparing to double (or triple) on the h-file, the most stubborn defensive move is 27...Rf8 — defending is generally more difficult than playing with the initiative.
Duda instead went for 27...b4
Rapport ignored his knight on c3 and continued with 28.exf5. Again, Duda’s 28...gxf5 was not the best defensive try, although Black is lost anyway. Resignation came after 29.Ne4
The last piece joins the attack. Grabbing the knight fails to 30.Qh5, while any other manoeuvre will only delay the inevitable.
Duda is now one of three players sharing last place on 3/8 points. Alireza Firouzja and Teimour Radjabov also have a -2 score after drawing their round-8 direct encounter — a 93-move struggle that lasted no less than seven hours.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.d3 a5 7.0-0 h6 8.b3N 8.h3 Be6 9.Nd2 a4 10.Nc4 Nd4 11.Kh2 b5 12.Ne3 c6 13.f4 a3 14.f5 axb2 15.Bxb2 8...0-0 9.h3 Nd4 10.Be3 c6 11.Kh2 Re8 12.a3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 b5 15.g4 Ra7 16.Qg3 h5 17.g5 h4 18.Qxh4 Nh7 19.Qg3 19.a4 b4 20.Nd1 Nxg5 19...Nxg5 20.h4 Nh7 21.Bh3 Bxh3 22.Rg1 Ng5 23.hxg5 Bc8 24.Rg2 24.Raf1!? 24...Rae7 24...f6= 25.Qf3 25.Qh4± 25...g6 25...f6 26.Rh1!+- f5 26...f6± 27.Kg1! 27.gxf6 Rh7+ 28.Kg1 Rxh1+ 29.Kxh1 Kf7= 27...b4? 27...Rf8 28.Rh6 28.Qh3 Rg7± 28...Rg7 28.exf5 28.Qh3 Rg7 29.axb4 axb4 28...gxf5 28...bxc3? 29.fxg6 Qd7 30.Qh5+- 28...Bxf5 29.Ne4 bxa3 30.Nf6+ Kf7 29.Ne4! 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Rapport,R | 2776 | Duda,J | 2750 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE Candidates Tournament 2022 | 8.1 |
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Richard Rapport vs Jan-Krzysztof Duda is about to begin | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
Round 8 results
Standings after round 8
All games
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- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
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- Drag the split bars between window panes.
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