2022 Candidates, Round 6: Another great day for Nepomniachtchi and Caruana
In a repeat of day one of the Candidates, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana are the only two players to score a victory, separating themselves from the rest After six rounds of play, Ian Nepomniachtchi (who leads in the tournament with 4.5 points) and Fabiano Caruana (who is just half a point behind) have distinguished themselves as early contenders for the next challenger for the title of world champion. They are followed by Hikaru Nakamura and Richard Rapport, who have three points. After his defeat in today’s round, Jan-Krzysztof Duda has joined Teimour Radjabov and Ding Liren on 2.5, while Alireza Firouzja is alone at the bottom, on two points. The last round before the rest day in the 2022 Candidates saw two draws and two victories. It was a repeat of day one when Nepomniachtchi and Caruana were the only players to win their games. The spectators were presented with a treat from the Palacio de Santona in Madrid, as neither of today’s games was easy or quick. Tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi got a convincing victory against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The 24-year-old from Poland drew all his games until this round but probably deserved more as he had shown greater talent than some of his opponents so far. However, in the game against Nepomniachtchi, he was on the back foot from the beginning. In the Reti opening, White developed quickly and launched a pawn advance on the black king’s fortress, forcing Duda to give up a bishop for three pawns and a weaker position, which was followed by an execution of a sharp and devastating attack. Despite the defeat, Duda has shown great vigour and resilience in the tournament, and it would be a shame if he didn’t keep it up. In the other decisive game of the round, Fabiano Caruana scored comfortably as Black against Alireza Firouzja. Following a relatively stable position in the Catalan opening, Firouzja sacrificed an exchange hoping to regain it immediately but missed a strong in-between move by Caruana, and his ‘temporary’ sacrifice turned into a permanent one. From that move onwards, Fabiano played in an exemplary fashion. With every move in which Firouzja was trying to get a chance to light a spark, Caruana responded by pouring cold water on him, to the point where the Frenchman realised his flame was finally out and that he had to resign. Caruana and Firouzja are now in two different worlds: the American is at the top of the scoreboard, half a point behind the leader, while the Frenchman is at rock bottom, on two points, alone in – many would argue – a demise of his own making. Caruana’s approach seems to revolve around the principle: keep calm and carry on. While a big challenge lies ahead for Firouzja: if he can pick himself up and dust himself off, he will show that his star is destined to ascend. Teimour Radjabov missed a great chance today to score his first victory. The opponents were on par in wild Sicilian complications and ended up in a roughly equal position where Radjabov had sufficient compensation for two pawns. Rapport apparently underestimated the potential danger and greedily went for a pawn but ended up in a lost position where White’s active rooks and a bishop dominated the board. However, facing time trouble, Radjabov let his advantage slip and immediately entered a drawn endgame. It’s a big miss for Radjabov, who wasted his best opportunity in the tournament so far. He is yet to claim his first victory in a classical game since 2019! Rapport – on the other hand – had another lucky escape in the Candidates (the first one was in the third round, against Ding). While Radjabov is aware that chances like the one he had don’t present themselves often, Rapport surely knows that luck runs out at some point for everyone, and nobody knows when. Betting on / hoping for it isn’t the best option for the next rounds. In his second game in a row with black pieces, Ding Liren drew with Hikaru Nakamura. In the Italian game, both demonstrated his excellent home preparation. After breaking through in the centre, Black got some chances, but those were not enough to unsettle Nakamura. When it seemed that Ding was getting the upper hand, Nakamura went for Black’s king and forced a draw by perpetual. Nakamura is still in a good position to make a breakthrough at the top, but Ding is still lingering near the bottom of the scoresheet and is yet to secure his first victory. The six rounds of the Candidates played so far saw six decisive games and 18 draws. Of those six victories, Nepomniachtchi owns three and Caruana two, while the remaining one goes to Nakamura. By right and by might, the two are now seen as the most likely candidates for the first place. But with eight more games ahead, a lot can change. Friday is the second rest day for the players, after which there will be another sequence of three rounds which might prove decisive for the tournament. Here follows a closer look at the games from Round 6 of the Candidates. Teimour Radjabov vs Richard Rapport: A wasted opportunity Rapport played the same opening he used the day before against Caruana – the Taimanov variation of the Sicilian. Similar to Caruana, Radjabov opted for a double-edged line. In today’s game, the two opponents went down an unusual and sharp path beaten by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi back in 2021. Both sides immediately went for an attack instead of gradually building their position, and both kings didn’t castle and moved after check. On the move 16, Radjabov introduced a novelty with 16.Bg6+, which did not change the evaluation of the position as slightly better for White. Six moves down the road, the opponents traded queens, but the situation on the board remained very sharp. Rapport grabbed the b2-pawn and pounced on White’s king with all his pieces except for the