Russians Pursue Leader at FIDE Women's Candidates

Ian Nepomniachtchi is sharing first place with Gukesh.

Round 6 of the FIDE Candidates finished in Toronto. This match day produced many decisive games. 

In the open tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. Fabiano Caruana was a fairly calm game in the Scotch Game, demonstrating a good home preparation. A draw was agreed on move 41 in an opposite-coloured bishops endgame.

Playing with the white pieces in the Sozin Attack of the Sicilian Defence, Santosh Vidit scored a convincing win over Alireza Firouzja. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa outplayed Nijat Abasov in a very tenacious battle as White: just before time control, the Indian player took advantage of his opponent's mistakes, traded rooks and transposed into a knight vs bishop ending with his queenside passed pawns unstoppable. Dommaraju Gukesh vs Hikaru Nakamura ended in a draw.  

Standings after Round 6:

1-2. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Dommaraju Gukesh – 4
3-4. Fabiano Caruana, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa – 3,5 
5-6. Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Hikaru Nakamura – 3
7-8. Nijat Abasov, Alireza Firouzja – 1.5.

Round 7 pairings:

Nakamura – Nepomniachtchi
Caruana – Praggnanandhaa
Abasov – Vidit
Firouzja – Gukesh 

In the women's section, Kateryna Lagno scored her first victory in the event by winning against Rameshbabu Vaishali with the black pieces. The Russian took over the initiative in the Ruy Lopez middlegame and used her lead in development to create unpleasant threats. There came a moment when the Indian chess player needed to find the only saving but counter-intuitive move to fend off Lagno's tactical shot. However, she played differently only to find find herself in a hopeless position very quickly. Kateryna went on to win on move 29.

Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated Nurgyul Salimova as Black in the Catalan Opening. The Russian won a pawn in a positional struggle, and then the Bulgarian chess player failed to defend the ending with rooks and minor pieces. 

Tan Zhongyi literally crushed Anna Muzychuk as White, although the Ukrainian chess player could have saved herself at one point after the former Women's World Champion's mistake. However, the time pressure took its toll and the Chinese managed to win the game on move 37. 

Humpy Koneru vs. Lei Tingjie was an even game. However, as the time control approached, the Indian chess player made a gross mistake in the endgame with minor pieces and lost rather quickly.

Standings after Round 6:

1. Tan Zhongyi – 4,5
2. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 4
3. Kateryna Lagno – 3.5
4. Lei Tingjie – 3
5-6. Rameshbabu Vaishali, Nurgyul Salimova – 2,5 
7-8. Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk – 2. 

Round 7 pairings:

Lagno – Salimova
Goryachkina – Tan Zhongyi
Muzychuk – Koneru
Lei Tingjie – Vaishali

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