Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh would look to bridge the gap with leader Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia when they restart their campaigns in the eighth round of the Candidates chess tournament. (More Chess News)
Teen sensation Prag💛gnanandhaa will be up against Frenchman Firouza Alireza, while Gukesh will take on compatriot Vidit Gujrathi when the tournament r🐼esumes on Saturday.
While al💯l three Indians have had a d﷽ecent outing in the open section so far, it is defending champion Nepomniachtchi who is in prime position to complete a hat-trick of titles at the halfway stage.
With 4.5 points to his credit, Nepomniachtchi would be happy with his performance and stands as the favourite with half point more than nearest rivals Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and top seed F🐲abiano Caruana of United St𒈔ates.
Gujrathi on 3.5 points is knജown to rise towards the end of tournaments and one can expect him to co❀me firing in the second half along with Hikaru Nakamura, who shares the fifth spot with him.
Alireza comes next in standin🤪gs on the seventh spot with 2.5 points, a half poin♔t clear of Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan.
It has been a story of less hits and more mis꧑ses for the Indian trio. Earlier in the event, Gujrathi had clearly outplayed Caruana and in the previous round too his pos꧒ition looked commanding against Abasov before settling for draws.
Gukesh also enjoyed a great position against Alireza in the previous round and the Fren🔴chman was undeꦫr tremendous pressure with the clock ticking away too.
However, lu🌠ck did not seem to be on Gukesh’s side and it took some serious mistakes on his part to hand the point to Alireza.
Praggnanandhaa has been very solid and has shown tremendous preparation here. His black-piece draw with Caruana in a French defense was a case in point showing his tremendous confidence and his victory over Gujrathi earl𒀰ier had already shown the risk-taking abilit♍y.
Against Alireza, the previous outing was a draw and Praggnanandhaa wi🥀ll try to use his white pieces well in the return game.
“I have been playing quite well and am happy with the ﷺquality”, Praggnanandhaa said.
He quickly singled out his victory aga🌼ins💦t Gujrathi as his favourite so far. "Coming after a loss it was quite important to do well their.”
Gukesh will have black pieces against Gujrathi ♏in a game that is likely to dra🍨w many eyeballs in the live telecast.
For the record, Nepomniachtchi and Caruana are the only two unbeaten players at the half-way s💜tage.
In the last two attempts that he ෴won, Nepomniachtchi had been leading the event after fifty per cent game which is no different from this time.
Though Caruana is one pl𒊎ayer who can hit the top gear at any point and his fans are only waiting for that to happen.
The Indian challenge in the women’s section has not qui✤te taken off contrary to expectations. Many had believed Konery Humpy’s experience and R Vaishali’s fearless play might come in handy for both but it has yet to show in the first seven games.
The two are currently at th🍃e bottom of the t🌼ables with 2.5 points each while the tournament leader Zhongyi Tan has five points.
Following Zho📖ngyi Tan closely is Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia and it looks like the battle for the crown is between these two players.
However, just a couple of quick victories can still propel the Indians up, a🥂nd it will be something they will be hoping for.
Pairings round 8 (Indians unless specified): R Pra♛ggnanandhaa (4) vs Firouza Alireza (Fra, 2.5); Vidit Gujrathi (3.5) vs D Gukesh (4); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 3.5) vs Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 4); Ian Nepomniach🍃tchi (Fid, 4.5) vs Nijat Abasov (Aze, 2).
Women: Zhongyi Tan (5) vs Tingjei Lei (Chn, 4); Koneru Humpy (2.5) vs R Vaishali (2.5); Nurgyul Salimova (Bul, 3) vs Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 2.5) drew with K Humpy (2.5); Lagno Kateryna (Fid, 4) vs Aleksandra♊ Goryachkina (Fid, 4.5).
