The Candidates Tournament resumed with a “bang”, as the latest challenger to the world championship title, Fabiano Caruana from the US, took down the leader of the tournament, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The American won in great style, sacrificing material in the opening to create a very sharp and double-edged position. The French Grandmaster fell in Caruana’s opening preparation, but he defended remarkably well in what seemed a minefield. “Horror. Pure horror”, is what a top player feels when he walks straight into his opponent’s preparation, according to Magnus Carlsen, who commentated the first round for Chess24. 

However, the effort took its toll: after six hours of play, and when the worst seemed to be already behind, the tournament leader bit the dust in a tricky ending. This was the most exciting game of the tournament so far, and one to be remembered for decades to come, where both players demonstrated an excellent level. 

This result allows Ian Nepomniachtchi to emerge as the sole leader since his game against Anish Giri was drawn. Kirill Alekseenko beat his compatriot Alexander Grischuk, while the Chinese derby between Ding Liren and Wang Hao ended in a draw.  

Caruana – Vachier-Lagrave 

Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played the so-called "Poisoned Pawn Variation" in the Najdorf variation in Sicilian Defense (7…Qb6), favoured by the legendary world champion Robert Fischer. At the very beginning of the game, Black bravely takes the b2-pawn (8…Qxb2) but falls under a dangerous attack. At the same time, boundless complications arise on the board. There are so many options here that even with the help of powerful modern computers it has not yet been possible to determine an accurate assessment of the position. As chess players joke, the winner here is the one who makes the penultimate mistake.

Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave are both famous for their extremely deep opening preparation, but the American grandmaster was better prepared for this game - his second, former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, found a very dangerous idea. Already around the 15th move, Maxim began to spend a lot of time on every decision, while Fabiano was replying instantly. On the move 18, the American introduced a stunning novelty 18.Bc4 sacrificing a bishop in addition to tree pawns. Until the 25th move Black, according to the "electronic mind", defended very well, but eventually, the Frenchman took a questionable decision to go for an endgame without an exchange for two pawns - White's pieces sprang into action. 

After massive exchanges, the game transposed into the ending with pawn and rook vs pawn and knight and, to the surprise of most experts, an unbreakable fortress appeared on the board. 

However, the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, admitted that he was not sure of his ability to keep this position for Black - so difficult are the problems the weaker side is facing. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also failed to cope with this task, although he was holding his ground for quite a long time. But then he didn’t find the precise setup, misplaced his knight and allowed the white king to break into his camp via h5-square. On move 74 Black had to resign.

Alekseenko – Grischuk 

Alexander Grischuk seems to have surprised his opponent in the opening by choosing the French Defense, which is a rare guest in his long professional career. Ironically, in this game, just like in the encounter Caruana – Vachier-Lagrave, the black queen hunted out for the b2-pawn. By using an opened b-file, the white rook soon entered the opponent's camp, but then Kirill Alekseenko chose not to go for the most principled line and steered the game into a calm, approximately equal ending. Around  ​​move 30, the grandmasters got into time trouble and White missed a small tactical blow. Even though Alexander won an exchange for a pawn, Kirill got enough compensation in form of active pieces and a strong passed pawn. 

Both grandmasters were quite optimistic about their positions; however, Kirill Alekseenko's assessment turned out to be more accurate. Grischuk could have given his material back to get an equal rook endgame but avoided drawing variations and overpressed at the end. Black's counterplay on the kingside turned out to be ineffective while White’s e-pawn triumphantly marched to the eighth rank. The debutant of the Candidates Tournament and the youngest participant of the event Alekseenko won his first game, also on move 74.

Nepomniachtchi - Giri

After the game, Ian said that he had prepared for many openings which Anish often uses, but yet he was surprised by the choice of his opponent. “Sometimes a whole year is not enough to prepare for seven games,” Ian smiled.

Anish Giri: "I chose the Sveshnikov system which gives my opponent a choice: either to go for a double-edged fight with mutual chances or to play solidly, but then Black, in my opinion, has no problems." The Russian grandmaster chose the first path but admitted that he had played inaccurately. As a result, Anish Giri quickly equalized and on move 25 White began to repeat moves, insistently proposing to trade the light-squared bishops. Black could not afford this exchange, as in this case his position worsened significantly, so a draw was soon agreed due to the threefold repetition.

Ian Nepomniachtchi: “I got sick by the end of the first half of the tournament and lost the last game, so, of course, I was not upset that the tournament was interrupted... When you often travel to tournaments, the happiest time is in between trips, but usually, it's only a week. When the pandemic hit, I realized that there is nothing wrong with having more rest and not going anywhere. Generally, like Hachiko, I have been waiting for the Candidates Tournament for the entire 2020”.

Anish Giri: “Recently I played over the board in Wijk aan Zee, so I didn’t forget how to put on a suit for the game. But I completely forgot how to pack my suitcase, since I hadn’t flown anywhere for more than a year. And, of course, completely unusual sensations arose in the lounge in Moscow airport, when I realized that it was possible to take off the mask and no one would demand to put it back on immediately”.

Wang Hao – Ding Liren

The Chinese grandmasters were the first to finish the fight in a little less than two hours. They played a sharp variation of the Scotch, where White gets more space in the center and on the queenside but falls behind in developing his pieces. Ding Liren had a negative experience losing a rapid game in this line, so he improved his play and after exchange sacrifice, Black got a dangerous counterplay against the white king. Already on move 21, Black could have forced a draw with a perpetual check but since there was no risk, Ding decided to continue the fight. However, Wang Hao defended with great accuracy and a draw was agreed on the 28th move. 

During the press conference, Wang Hao explained what he was doing during the break: “I didn’t consider it necessary to study chess for the whole last year, since I didn’t have any special invitations to online tournaments. Naturally, just before the Candidates Tournament, I spent a couple of months preparing. And before that, I spent quite a lot of time studying and improving my knowledge in the field of investments. I am always happy to use new opportunities and learn something new, but I really miss the tournaments and travelling, especially as a tourist."

According to Ding Liren, in this difficult time of crisis, he also had to somewhat change his activities, but he would like to return to the usual way of life of a professional chess player as soon as possible.

Standings after the 8th round: 

1	Ian Nepomniachtchi (2774)	5
2	Fabiano Caruana (2842)	4½
3	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2767)	4½
4	Anish Giri (2763)	4
5	Hao Wang (2762)	4
6	Kirill Alekseenko (2698)	3½
7	Alexander Grischuk (2777)	3½
8	Ding Liren (2805)	3

Pairings for the 9th round: 

Kirill Alekseenko - Fabiano Caruana
Alexander Grischuk - Ian Nepomniachtchi
Anish Giri - Wang Hao
Ding Liren - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Media accreditation for the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg is carried out on the official website of the tournament: https://candidates-2020.com/accreditation and tel. +7 962 385-05-61. Contact: press@fide.com 

Photo: Lennart Ootes
 

Partners supporting the FIDE Candidates Tournament:

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