2022 Candidates, Round 7: Nepomniachtchi and Caruana in a league of their own
As the tournament reached its halfway point, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana are again(!) the only two players to score victories, significantly distancing themselves from the rest of the field With half of the tournament in Madrid played, Ian Nepomniachtchi is alone in the lead with 5.5/7. The former challenger for the world chess crown is on the path of repeating his 2020/21 victory in the Candidates, where he secured a leadership position early on and kept it until the end of the tournament. Right behind him, by half a step, is another former winner of the Candidates and challenger, Fabiano Caruana, who has five points. The two have now distinguished themselves from the rest of the field. Behind them, on fifty percent, is Hikaru Nakamura. The lower part of the board is made up of three players on three points: Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Ding Liren and Richard Rapport. At the bottom of the table are the oldest and the youngest players in this year’s Candidates: Teimour Radjabov and Alireza Firouzja, who both have 2.5 points. The halfway point of the 2022 Candidates saw Ian Nepomniachtchi score a confident victory against Richard Rapport. In the Petrov, Rapport walked directly into Nepomniachtchi’s preparation – a forced, sharp line leading to a quick draw. It seemed that Rapport had no choice but to accept a quick draw following a repetition of moves, but – to the surprise of many – he decided to play on, despite the odds stacked against him. What occurred was a battle where Rapport had two rooks for a queen, but his king was exposed. In a sharp and wild position, White wasn’t without chances, but, despite Rapport’s heroic efforts, Nepomniachtchi made sure nothing came of them. Despite the loss, Rapport deserves praise. Many chess pundits who were following the game said that Rapport’s decision to decline an early draw and enter a weaker and riskier position instead was unnecessary and that he should have accepted reality. That may be objectively true, however, it is exactly those who refuse to accept (a dim) reality that stands a chance to make a difference and sometimes manage to do it. Rapport has shown that he is here to fight whatever the odds and throw a good show for the audience, the people who love chess. From a wider perspective, chess was granted another interesting story to tell, which goes beyond the standard reciting of lines and is much more about psychology, courage and character. A rare exception to dull and quick theoretical draws, which – however realistic – make the game less attractive for everyone. The second victor of the day was Fabiano Caruana, who defeated Teimour Radjabov. The game got off to a better start for Radjabov, who seemed to have surprised Caruana with a rarer variation of the Sicilian, playing 2…a6 and then following the line with e5 and d5. Caruana seemed somewhat uncomfortable as Radjabov was blitzing his moves. However, when the dust settled, it turned out that Caruana was a pawn up with more initiative. He calmly proceeded to grind Black’s position, entering a sharp but winning rook endgame. Radjabov – an expert in finding a way to a draw – was trying every trick on the board. Both sides promoted queens in the endgame, but it was of no help for Black. Once the second pair of queens was exchanged, it finally became apparent to Radjabov that Caruana would be quicker in promoting his third queen. After nearly seven hours of play, Radjabov accepted defeat. The other two games in the seventh round were calmer. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Hikaru Nakamura split a point in the Nimzo-Indian. Despite having somewhat more initiative, the game was mostly balanced throughout. All White’s attempts to get things going were skillfully thwarted by Black. Next to Nepomniachtchi and Caruana – Nakamura is the only other player in the Candidates who has so far had a victory. However, since his comeback in round two following a loss on day one, the world’s top chess streamer is struggling to make a break past fifty percent. It remains to be seen which way he will go in the second part of the tournament. As for Duda – he has been very constant in his level of play in the first seven rounds. If he keeps it up, results will surely follow. Both Ding Liren and Alireza Firouzja were players for whom many had great expectations before the start of the tournament. But so far, both have seriously struggled and, at the bottom of the board, are desperate for a breakthrough. However, neither managed to make to step forward today. In the English opening, Firouzja achieved a dynamic position, favouring his style of play. Ding, leading white pieces, played very solidly – both creating chances and countering Firouzja’s attempts to break free. Like in the previous games, the Frenchman spent much more time thinking, trying to find the magic spark to let his creativity run free, but without success. With 2.5/7, Firouzja is at the bottom of the table where he is now joined by Teimour Radjabov, whom he will be facing in the eighth round, while Ding Liren has three points. Here follows a closer look at the games from round seven of the Candidates. Richard Rapport vs Ian Nepomniachtchi: The victor and the hero It is said that fortune favours the brave, but in today’s game between Rapport and Nepomniachtchi, that wasn’t the case. In their previous encounters, they drew eight times with one victory for Rapport. Following six hard-fought draws, this could have been a game where Rapport could have thrown the Candidates tournament wide open. As in his Round 5 game Nepomniachtchi responded with a Petrov. An extremely sharp but forced line was played where Rapport walked straight into Nepomniachtchi’s preparation. White ended a rook up on the move 14, but Black had serious mating threats. After 14…Bh3 15.gxh3 Qg6+ 16.Kh1 Qe4+ 17. Kg1 Qg6+ 18.Kh1 Qe4+ Rapport spent a lot of time thinking – to