The third round of the FIDE Candidates continued with a trend of spectacular games. Even though there were more draws today compared to Round 2, we still saw plenty of interesting developments. 

Nijat Abasov’s and Hikaru Nakamura’s game saw most of the pieces swapped off the board by move 20, and thereafter, it slowly cruised to a peaceful ending in the Exchange Variation of the Slav Defense. Nakamura commented, “If I’d known that my opponent wasn’t feeling well, I probably would have just done something random. On the other hand, if I had gone crazy and lost today, there is a very good chance the tournament would just be over for me, objectively speaking.”

Gukesh D chose a very solid line against Ian Nepomniachtchi with the white pieces, and had some opportunities to press risk-free throughout the game. Ian defended impeccably to reach a draw. 

Facing Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja burnt a lot of time on his clock in the opening. After 11 moves into the Nezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Firouzja spent almost half of the allocated time for the first 40 moves of the game, while Fabiano Caruana used barely more than 10 minutes. It took Firouzja over half an hour before playing 9. exd4. As a result, Alireza managed to come out of the opening with an extra pawn. However, Fabiano’s piece activity and two strong bishops proved enough compensation, and both players chose to repeat the position to split a point. “I felt like I had a chance to push for more, but he defended very well. It was a good game, I think,” said Firouzja after the game. 

The most exciting battle in the open section today was the derby between the two Indian superstars, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa R. Pragg sprung a surprise on Vidit in the opening with 4…f5 and 7…Na5. Vidit spent almost 20 minutes on his eighth move before playing Nxd4 and then more than 20 minutes after that for 11. Qe2, accepting the challenge of a sharp and double-edged game. Pragg, playing with Black, gradually repelled White’s threats and took over the initiative. After several inaccuracies from Vidit, Black built upon this initiative and finally got a decisive advantage. When Vidit stopped the clock in resignation, the players spent a few moments in the playing hall amicably analysing this complicated game together.

The leader in the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, Tan Zhongyi, faced Humpy Koneru with Black today. It was a calm game, as the opponents quickly repeated for a draw on move 32. “I am not really satisfied with the game. It’s not about the draw, but I couldn’t really continue with the game. She’s very well prepared,” said Koneru. 

In Lei Tingjie’s game against Aleksandra Goryachkina, the Chinese GM surprised her opponent with the rarely-seen Evans Gambit. “I think nowadays, every opening can be played,” said Lei. “I checked her games and saw that she only had one game in this opening. She spent a lot of time so I think it was a good choice to play this opening today.” Unfortunately, this did not lead to any spectacular attacks or sacrifices typically seen with this opening. Goryachkina promptly returned the pawn to finish the development and consolidate her position. The players soon entered an equal endgame, and a draw was agreed. 

Anna Muzychuk, playing with White, was very close to winning over Kateryna Lagno. Black’s king was trying to escape multiple checkmate threats by Anna’s queen and rook, but Muzychuk, unfortunately, missed the winning continuation at a critical moment. 

41. Qe8 would have kept her on the path to victory. Insread Anna player 41. Rg8? but Kateryna protected the g7-pawn with 41... Ra1+ 42. Kh2 Qe5+ 43. g3 f5. As a result, Lagno found a much-needed defensive resource and managed to escape with a draw. 

Indian superstar Vaishali, playing with White, won a spectacular game against Nurgyul Salimova. She diligently followed her preparation in the Petroff Defence. “10. Bd4 is an interesting idea; it’s a new move,” shared Vaishali. “I did not know 10… Bd7, but just continued with my original idea of h4.” 

White unraveled an attack on the kingside and sacrificed her knight on f7. This caught Salimova off guard and she sadly did not manage to find the correct defense, erring right away with 16…Bg5+ (the only move maintaining the balance was 16...Bf6) and 17…Ne5.

This allowed Vaishali to quickly exploit the numerous vulnerabilities around the black king and emerge as today’s heroine. “Winning a nice game always feels good,” Vaishali said with a smile at the press conference.  

The fourth round of the event will commence on the 7th of April at 14:30 EDT (Toronto).

Standings after Round 3:

Open:

1-3. Caruana, Gukesh, Nepomniachtchi – 2; 4-5. Vidit, Praggnanadhaa – 1.5; 6-8. Abasov, Firouzja, Nakamura – 1

Women’s:

1. Tan Zhongyi – 2.5; 2. Goryachkina – 2; 3-5. Vaishali, Koneru, Lagno – 1.5; 6-8. Salimova, A. Muzychuk, Lei – 1

Round 4 pairings:

Open

Nakamura - Praggnanandhaa
Nepomniachtchi – Vidit
Caruana - Gukesh
Abasov – Firouzja

Women’s

Lagno – Tan
Salimova - Koneru
Goryachkina - Vaishali
A. Muzychuk - Lei

Written by WGM Anna Burtasova

Photos: Michal Walusza and Maria Emelianova/Chess.com

Official website: candidates2024.fide.com/

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