Ian Nepomniachtchi Extends Lead at FIDE Candidates Tournament
The Russian has outplayed Ding Liren in Round 6.
Round six is now over at the FIDE Candidates tournament. A symbolic first move was made by the famous rock musician Vadim Samojlov, one of the leaders of the Agatha Christie group.
The Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi has scored his second win in a row by outplaying Ding Liren as White and has thus extended his lead even further. Kirill Alekseenko went down to Anish Giri in a tough fight. Grischuk – Caruana and Wang Hao – Vachier-Lagrave ended in a draw.
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) – Ding Liren (China) 1-0
The game opened with the trendy 6. d3 line of Ruy Lopez. In the middlegame, Black was reckless to allow the formation of pawn weaknesses in the center. Meanwhile, White promptly pushed his passed pawn on the queenside. On move 31, Ding Liren committed a serious blunder in an already difficult position.
Nepomniachtchi reacted in the most natural way, but his chose gave Black an opportunity to bail out tactically. Nevertheless, the Chinese grandmaster missed a saving combination (it should be added that it was extremely hard to spot it during the game). His piece sacrifice was a desperado, and he found himself in a lost position. Ian Nepomniachtchi won on move 40 to extend his tournament lead.
“I try to make fewer mistakes than usual and than my opponents do,” was the grandmaster's assessment of his current form.
Alexander Grischuk (Russia) – Fabiano Caruana (USA) 1/2-1/2
The opponents opted for the Yurtaev variation of Ruy Lopez, which leaves White with compensation for the missing pawn in the middle game. In the maneuvering struggle that followed, the Russian managed to win back the material. However, in the meanwhile, Black made his pieces active and got comfortable play. Besides, Alexander stepped into time trouble. “It’s hard to have big ambitions when challenged with the computer preparation for half a game,” Grischuk noted after the game.
Still, White's position was tenable. The queens were changed off on the time control move, and it took White accurate play in the endgame with knights and bishops. Grischuk came up with precise defense and equalized. A draw was agreed after Black's move 54.
Kirill Alekseenko (Russia) – Anish Giri (Netherlands) 0-1
The opening of this game was Giuoco Piano. An accurate and energetic play allowed Black not only to successfully solve his opening problems, but also seize the initiative on the kingside. Then, however, he did not use all his chances and the game simplified significantly and transposed into an endgame with queens and knights. Nevertheless, better pawn formation made for a slight edge for Black. Giri won a pawn, but Alekseenko managed to get some compensation for the missing material. Further simplifications followed shortly after as the queens left the board. Anish retained the extra pawn and tried to convert his advantage in a lengthy knight ending with three vs two pawns on the same flank. Going into the seventh hour of the game, Alekseenko was literally one check away from a draw, but made a fatal blunder and went down
Anish Giri, “The game was actually very interesting. I got a very good position after the opening, and then I am not sure I played very well. Still, I got some pressure. I still had some different tricks in the knight ending, but, in general, he already had good chances to make a draw. Kirill had an easier and more successful defense at his disposal. In the end, when I realized I was winning, my pulse went high because I felt it was going to be my first ever victory in the Candidates tournament.”
Wang Hao (China) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) 1/2-1/2
The French GM traditionally opted for the Grunfeld Defense. A typical double-edged position emerged from this opening in which White pushed the h-pawn early in the game. This continuation comes from a recent Cheparinov - Chigaev game, but on move 16 Black sidestepped from the predecessor game. In the middlegame, the grandmasters exchanged the rooks along the open h-file, and the position with queens and minor pieces proved better for White due to spatial advantage. After exchanging off the queens, Wang Hao won a pawn, but slipped at the conversion stage and allowed the opponent to set up an impenetrable defense along the black squares. In the game that followed, Vachier-Lagrave managed to simplify the position even further to save half a point.
Standings after Round 6:
1. Ian Nepomniachtchi – 4.5;
2. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 3.5;
3-6. Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wang Hao, Alexander Grischuk – 3;
7-8. Ding Liren, Kirill Alekseenko – 2;
March 24 is a rest day.
Round 7 pairings:
Fabiano Caruana (USA) – Wang Hao (China)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) – Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia)
Ding Liren (China) – Kirill Alekseenko (Russia)
Anish Giri (Netherlands) – Alexander Grischuk (Russia)
The organizers of the FIDE Candidates Tournament are the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) as well as the Government of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Chess Federation of the Sverdlovsk Region.
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