Candidates Chess | Gukesh stays in joint lead on a day when fellow Indian men post victories

Praggnanandhaa gets the better of Abasov, while Gujrathi bounces back by scoring over Firouzja in sixth round; Humpy and Vaishali suffer reverses

Cashing in: Gujrathi, who had endured two straight losses, asserted himself against Firouzja.  | Photo Credit: FIDE

D. Gukesh maintained his joint lead after drawing with second Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the sixth round of the Candidates tournament at Toronto.

He shared the top spot with defending champion Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, who drew with top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States. The leaders were on 3.5 points.

They were followed half-a-point behind by Caruana and R. Praggnanandhaa, who defeated Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan.

It was a good day for the other Indian, Vidit Gujrathi, who beat Alireza Firouzja of France.

It was the second straight win for Gujrathi, as he showed character by bouncing back from two consecutive losses.

It was a disappointing day for India in the women’s tournament, though. Koneru Humpy went down to China’s Lei Tingjie, while R. Vaishali lost to Russian Kateryna Lagno. All the four boards produced decisive results, as Tan Zhongyi defeated Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine and Aleksandra Goryachkine of Russia beat Bulgarian Nurgyul Salimova.

Tan remained in the sole position with 4.5 points, half-point more than the second-placed Goryachkina. Humpy was on two points and Vaishali on 2.5.

Strong move

Gukesh faced Sicilian Defence from Nakamura and they decided to split the point after 40 moves. “I thought I had a slight pull in the opening, but his 14th move was very strong,” said Gukesh. “I could not really see anything for White after that.”

Gujrathi also came across Sicilian Defence but was able to get the full point from an erratic Firouzja.

After winning in 40 moves, Gujrathi said of his rival, “He is on -3, and the tournament is not going his way. It happens; sometimes you become a bit emotional when you’re tilted.”

The results (sixth round):

Open: Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE) 4 drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA) 3.5; D. Gukesh 4 drew with Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 3; R. Praggnanandhaa (3.5) bt Nijat Abasov (Aze) 1.5; Vidit Gujrathi 3 bt Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 1.5.

Women: Tan Zhongyi (Chn) 4.5 bt Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) 2; Nurgyul Salimova (Bul) 2.5 lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE) 4; R. Vaishali 2.5 lost to Kateryna Lagno (FIDE) 3.5; Koneru Humpy 2 lost to Lei Tingjie (Chn) 3.