FIDE Candidates Round 5 Recap: Gukesh catches up with Nepomniachtchi

Round 5 brought significant changes to the leaderboard of the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament. While Tan Zhongyi maintained her lead in the Women's section with a draw, Ian Nepomniachtchi's draw against Praggnanadhaa was not sufficient to keep him as the sole leader. Gukesh D's victory over Nijat Abasov propelled him to join Nepomniachtchi as a co-leader.

The dramatic 5th round witnessed two decisive games in the Open section - Firouzja 0-1 Nakamura and Gukesh 1-0 Abasov. Nakamura claimed his first win with black pieces against Alireza Firouzja. After an evenly-matched Italian game, Firouzja blundered on move 63 placing his king in a vulnerable position, and soon resigned the game due to an impending fork.

Meanwhile, the other decisive game featured an intense Petrov’s game between Gukesh D and Nijat Abasov. Venturing into uncharted territory as early as move 9, both players had to do a lot of thinking over the board. Although the game lacked precision from both sides, Gukesh managed to capitalize on Abasov's errors and secured victory in a tricky Queen and Pawn endgame.

The remaining two games were also captivating despite ending in draws. Vidit Gujrathi had promising chances against Fabiano Caruana but failed to find the winning line, settling for a perpetual check. The game between Praggnanadhaa and Nepomniachtchi featured a spectacular opening novelty and became the highlight of the day. Let's cover this game in more detail.

In the Women's section, all games ended peacefully. Board 1 witnessed an equal game after Tan Zhongyi failed to break through Salimova's solid Caro-Kann defense. On the 2nd board, Kateryna Lagno's attack against Lei Tingjie looked threatening at some point, but inaccuracies allowed Lei to equalize. A somewhat similar scenario happened on the 3rd board, where Anna Muzychuk's attempt to convert her initiative against Vaishali Rameshbabu fell short in a Rook endgame, resulting in a draw. The game between Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Goryachkina was equal from the start, with players agreeing to a draw on move 44.

Game Annotations by Zaven Andriasyan

Photos by Michal Walusza / FIDE Flickr Page