Ian Nepomniachtchi Becomes One of Candidates Tournament's Leaders

Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated Anna Muzychuk.

Round 2 of the FIDE Candidates was in Toronto on 5 April. All games in the open ended decisively, which is very rare. 

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alireza Firouzja opted for the Anti-Berlin, where the Russian sacrificed a pawn for the initiative and an offensive on the king's side (much facilitated thanks to the open g-file). Black was defending resourcefully for a long time, but the battle became very sharp towards the time pressure. On move 29, the French Grandmaster decided to give up a piece, which proved fatal as he failed to get sufficient counterplay to bail out. Despite his opponent's desperate efforts to resist, the Russian posted a win on move 45. 

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi defeated Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces, Fabiano Caruana outplayed Nijat Abasov as White, and the incredibly intense Indian derby saw Dommaraju Gukesh beat Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa as Black. 

Tournament standings after Round 2:

1-4. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Dommaraju Gukesh – 1.5
5-8. Hikaru Nakamura, Nijat Abasov, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Alireza Firouzja – 0.5

Round 3 pairings:

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

Tan Zhongyi of China has taken the lead in the Women's Candidates Tournament: the former World Women's Champion defeated Rameshbabu Vaishali as White by developing a rapid attack on her opponent's king and thus scoring 2 out of 2 points. 

Aleksandra Goryachkina also won her game over Anna Muzychuk. The opponents opened the game with the exchange variation of the Slav Defense, in which White sacrificed a pawn for a long-term initiative.  Black was required to defend tenaciously and the Ukrainian spent much time looking for precise moves. With her time running out, she made a mistake and allowed the decisive invasion of white pieces into her camp. The Russian won the bishop and convincingly converted her advantage. 

The games Lagno vs. Koneru and Salimova vs. Lei Tingjie ended in a draw.

Tournament standings after Round 2:

1. Tan Zhongyi – 2
2. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 1.5
3-5. Kateryna Lagno, Humpy Koneru, Nurgyul Salimova – 1
6-8. Lei Tingjie, Anna Muzychuk, Rameshbabu Vaishali – 0.5. 

Round 3 pairings:

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

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