Chess Candidates Tournament 2024 Live Updates: All five Indians end opening rounds in draws

Gukesh D vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi: DRAW

Alireza Firouzja – Praggnanandhaa: DRAW

Fabiano Caruana vs Hikaru Nakamura: DRAW

Nijat Abasov vs Ian Nepomniachtchi: DRAW

Women's Candidates event: 

Vaishali Rameshbabu vs Humpy Koneru: DRAW

Aleksandra Goryachkina vs Kateryna Lagno: DRAW

Anna Muzychuk vs Nurgyul Salimova: DRAW

Lei Tingjie vs Tan Zhongyi: Tan Zhongyi defeats Lei Tingjie

The 37-year-old Humpy played out a draw in the first game against 22-year-old Vaishali. On being asked if she was feeling any pressure from the younger generation, she said: "No, not really. I just play my own game. I don't bother with whom (I'm playing), what's their age and their strength. For me the position on the board is more important."

Asked about five Indians in the Candidates: "It's very nice to have five Indians here. It's something amazing. I hope one of us will be successful."

Asked how close the Indian players at the Candidates are, and whether they will celebrate together shoukd one of them win, Humpy said: "I don't know about the others, but for me, I'm not much of a... I don't have many friends in the chess circuit. Once I finish off a tournament, I go back to my family and don't stay with the chess circle. I have an entirely differnt lifestyle." 

Humpy is asked if she wants her daughter to become a chess player: "Not really. It's a very tough game. And it's an addiction as well. Once you're into it, it's very difficult to come out of it. If she wants to play a sport, I'd rather have her pick an Olympic sport, because I see a big difference in recognition."

When a classical game stretches on for 5 or 6 hours, chess players allow the occasional butterfly of whimsical distraction to fly into the dungeon of their minds. 

“Whenever somebody tells me, ‘I don’t know how you concentrate for seven hours,’ I understand that they don’t know how we play chess. Or that they haven’t played chess themselves because we do not concentrate for seven hours. Very few people do it. I would think even the brain simply goes on strike periodically and then comes back. I think that’s how it works,” chess legend Viswanathan Anand had said. 

Here are the oddest thoughts chess players like Tal, Anand, Gukesh, Vachier-Lagrave and Grischuk entertained in the middle of games, featuring drowning hippos, trainers doing push ups and dinner plans.

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Ahead of the biggest chess event of 2024, Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com.

Here’s what the world no 1 had said about the Indian Candidates’ chances:

Carlsen on Praggnanandhaa: “I don’t think Pragg is ready to win the tournament. He’s very unlikely to win. But I also cannot see it going really poorly for him. He has weak moments, but he’s fairly stable psychologically. He has an improving repertoire and is very serious. ”

Carlsen on Gukesh: “I cannot imagine him winning the Candidates. I think he will certainly win at least a couple of games, but will have some fairly bad losses as well. I don’t think he will do poorly, but I don’t think he will do too well either. He’s not quite ready yet to make the leap. It’s more likely that he has a bad event.”

Carlsen on Vidit: “Vidit has improved a lot, especially from a psychological point. I’m sure he will be very serious and well prepared. He will not win the tournament. Although, I feel he has the capacity to make a really good score if things go his way. I really like the way he plays. But I can also see him losing quite a few games.”

China's Tan Zhongyi defeats compatriot Lei Tingjie after 52 moves. This is hte first victory of the night. All the other seven games across both sections ended in draws. 

The last Indians competing -- 22-year-old Vaishali and 37-year-old Humpy -- have also agreed to a draw. Which means all the five Indians competing at the Candidates have taken half a point after the first round. 

The Americans shake hands and end their first game in a mutally-agreed draw after 41 moves. 

With his 32nd move, Fabiano moved his pawn to a5 and immediately drew looks from his opponent, Nakamura. 

"That's why Hikaru gave that puzzled look at Fabi. As if to say: 'What are you doing?'," says Vishy Anand, who's doing commentary for the FIDE live broadcast.

Anand then opines: "a5 is just careless."

Ahead of the biggest chess event of 2024, Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com. 

Here's what Magnus said about India's Pragg: “I don’t think Pragg is ready to win the tournament. He’s very unlikely to win. But I also cannot see it going really poorly for him. He has weak moments, but he’s fairly stable psychologically. He has an improving repertoire and is very serious.”

And here's what Magnus had said about Pragg's roudn 1 opponent: “I’m an Alireza true believer! I’ll put him in the ‘will do well’ category. That’s reasonable considering difficulties at the last Candidates tournament.”

The 22-year-old from India is currently down to 40 seconds on the clock while her veteran opponent has just over five minutes. As the game drags to the end, time is worth its weight in gold. SO that's an advantage for Humpy. Can she capitalise? 

Here are all the moves so far:

Vaishali (white) vs Humpy: 

1 e4 e5
2 Nf3 Nc6
3 Bc4 Bc5
4 c3 Nf6
5 d3 h6
6 b4 Be7
7 Nbd2 O-O
8 O-O d5
9 Bb3 a6
10 a3 Be6
11 Re1 b5
12 Bb2 dxe4
13 dxe4 Bxb3
14 Qxb3 a5
15 Nf1 Qc8
16 Ne3 Qe6
17 Nd5 Rfd8
18 Nxf6+ Qxf6
19 Rad1 Bd6
20 Rd5 Rdb8
21 Red1 Qe6
22 Qc2 Ne7
23 R5d3 Nc8
24 Nd2 Nb6
25 Bc1 Be7
26 Nf1 Qc6
27 Ne3 axb4

Ok, Vidit drew, we can sleep

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) April 4, 2024

"I didn't expect Ian to play this opening; I had a goal to keep it solid. It's the firts game, so I didn't want to play sharp. It's a fine result for me. Maybe I played a bit imprecise at cerain points. But it was about equal all throughout the game. A draw is a logical outcome for this game," says Nijat Abasov after his draw with Nepo.

The secodn draw of the day in the Open event, this time between the two compatriots: Gukesh and Vidit. They shake hands over the board after 21 moves each. 

Here are all the 21 moves from Gukesh (white) vs Vidit:

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 Nf3 Nc6
6 a3 a6
7 dxc5 Bxc5
8 b4 Bd6
9 Ra2 Ne5
10 Rd2 Nxf3+
11 gxf3 O-O
12 Bb2 a5
13 cxd5 e5
14 Nb5 axb4
15 Nxd6 Qxd6
16 axb4 Qxb4
17 Qc2 Bg4
18 Bc3 Qa3
19 Bb2 Qb4
20 Bc3 Qa3
21 Bb2 Qb4

Ian Nepomniachtchi, a two-time Candidates winner, is held to a draw by Nijat Abasov.

The player from Azerbaijan is the lowest rated player in the Open event, with a standard rating of 2632 and a world ranking of 114, he's held Nepo, who competed in the last two World Championship clashes, and came into the tournament with a rating of 2758 and ranking of No 7.

All the moves from Gukesh (white) vs Vidit so far:

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 Nf3 Nc6
6 a3 a6
7 dxc5 Bxc5
8 b4 Bd6
9 Ra2 Ne5
10 Rd2 Nxf3+
11 gxf3 O-O
12 Bb2 a5
13 cxd5 e5
14 Nb5 axb4
15 Nxd6 Qxd6
16 axb4 Qxb4
17 Qc2 Bg4
18 Bc3 Qa3
19 Bb2 Qb4
20 Bc3 Qa3

So Vidit moves his bishop to g4 with his 17th move, and Vishy Anand is impressed. 

"Bishop to g4 is amazing. We had not seen this," says Anand. "Spectacular," says his co-commentator, Irina Krush. 

Here's what the board looks like after Vidit's move: 

The two-time Candidates winner Ian Nepomniachtchi had won his first round clashes at the 2022 and 2021 Candidates. But against the lowest-rated player in the 2024 Open field, he seems to be headed to a draw.

A fascinating array of emotions flashing on his face as all his calculations seem to be taking him into dead ends and he tries to salvage something more from the game than a draw:  

Is sleep catching up with Vidit? It's currently 2:15 am back in India, and since some of the Indians have landed just a few days before the event started in Toronto, on the otherside of the globe, Vidit's spotted on the board supressing a yawn. Is his natural circadian rhythm catching up with the 29-year-old? 

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 Nf3 Nc6
6 a3 a6
7 dxc5 Bxc5
8 b4 Bd6
9 Ra2 Ne5
10 Rd2 Nxf3+
11 gxf3 O-O
12 Bb2 a5
13 cxd5 e5
14 Nb5 axb4
15 Nxd6 Qxd6
16 axb4 Qxb4

Chess fans in the FIDE's live broadcast chat are not fans of the new camera angle from almost board level. 

One viewer branded it the "nose hair cam".  

In the FIDE commentary, five-time world champion Vishy Anand is asked by his commentator, Irina Krush what he makes of the Pragg versus Alireza game. 

"I still don't knwo what's going on. IDK (I don't know)," says Anand with a grin. "I'm slightly disoriented. Everything is very common. But the knight on d3 is disorienting for me. I was thinking that black (Pragg) is better, but the computer says that the position is equal. So, I'll figure this out slowly."

Here's what the board looks like: 

... and he's not competing (or commentating) at the Candidates tournament. 

Arjun Erigaisi was the top-ranked Indian in the latest FIDE rankings released by the world governing body of chess on Monday.

With a standard rating of 2756, Erigaisi is ranked ninth in the world. Following him is five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who is the second ranked Indian on the FIDE list.

Anand is on 11th spot in the ratings with a rating of 2751. He's followed by the Candidates troika of 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa R, 17-year-old Gukesh D and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, who are in action at the prestigious Candidates tournament.

“Hikaru surprised Fabi with a fairly rare variation of the Sicilian defence,” says Irina Krush on the FIDE broadcast. “Fabi responded solidly.Right now he’s enjoying a slightly better position with the bishop pointing to the f7 square.”

Ian Nepomniachtchi boasts a stellar record in the first round of the Candidates. At the two previous Candidates events, nepo has started the tournament with a win in the first round. 

This year, Nepo is taking on the lowest-rated player in the Open Candidates event: Nijat Abasov.

At the last Candidates event, Nepo beat Ding Liren and had defeated Anish Giri in the opening round in 2021. 

As Hikaru Nakamura walkes off the board, his American compatriot Fabiano Caruana is rooted to his seat wondering his next move. He's fallen almost 30 minutes behind on the clock!!!

A massive advantage on the clock for Hikaru. 

Caruana launched into attack early on, sending a bishop on the unguarded king to threaten check on the 6th move. 

Here's how the battle between the World No 2 and the World No 3 has panned out so far

Vaishali (white) vs Humpy: 

1 e4 e5
2 Nf3 Nc6
3 Bc4 Bc5
4 c3 Nf6
5 d3 h6
6 b4 Be7
7 Nbd2 O-O
8 O-O d5
9 Bb3 a6
10 a3 Be6

The stage is set!

Round 1 of the #FIDECandidates and the Women’s Canidates kick off at 14:30 ET! ?

Watch it live at https://t.co/v14n2tMAdi pic.twitter.com/3NwlZPbOUA

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 4, 2024

“There’s fire on the boards. Maybe Nijat Abasov and Nepo is the only game (in men’s Open Candidates) that’s soft and solid. In the other three games, anything can happen from one second to another. There’s no huge advantage in the three games. But, one move and it’s gone. So the tension is really high for all players,” says chess legend Judit Polgar on the Chess.com Twitch broadcast as the games cross the one-hour mark! 

The second youngest player EVER at the Candidates looks a little stressed as he contemplates his next move.

It took six moves for the first piece to be captured. By then, two pawns from both armies had marched down the centre, and were staring eyeball-to-eyeball in open confrontation. The first bullet was shot by Gukesh, capturing a pawn on the c5 square. But an ambitious bishop from Vidit's army shot forward in response on the next move, recapturing the c5 square, before backing off. Vidit then chose to loosen his reins on his knight, sending it galloping away into enemy territory. By the 10th move, it was threatening mate by taking out one opposition knight, only to be scythed down by a pawn. 

Both players have lost a knight each.

Gukesh (white) vs Vidit

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 Nf3 Nc6
6 a3 a6
7 dxc5 Bxc5
8 b4 Bd6
9 Ra2 Ne5
10 Rd2 Nxf3+

Praggnanandhaa's coach RB Ramesh told The Indian Express ahead of the Candidates chess tournament, "I’m proud to see that Pragg has come this far, but I don’t think this is his best. The best I believe is yet to come."

On the board, Ramesh says, Pragg has been focusing on his opening preparations rather than middle or endgame.

“We’ve been largely focusing on the openings ahead of the Candidates. Usually for other tournaments, we like to focus on other aspects as well, but here we’ve been focused on openings,” says Ramesh.

Why specifically openings?

“You have to get something out of the openings to play for a win. That’s becoming increasingly difficult because of computers. Every top player has access to good computers and has good preparation. So everything goes normally, most games will end in a draw. So if you want to play for a win, you need to have something special,” explains Ramesh, who adds that he will be assisting Pragg from Chennai and will not be travelling to Toronto.

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Magnus Carlsen has said that if any of the three Indian debutants win the open Candidates, “it would be a shock”. But for Indian chess, having five contenders in a 16-player field itself is a sign that the future is bright.

The Candidates event is a flexing-of-the-muscle for the country. Between 1988 to 2013, India produced 35 grandmasters in 25 years. In just the last decade, India has managed to produce almost 50 GMs. Now five of them have broken through to what is one of the biggest stages of the sport.

“Our chess players have been doing well for the last few decades. It has been getting better and better with each year with players raising the bar for the subsequent generation. It has all been leading up to this point. Suddenly we have a few youngsters who have been racing upwards at a breakneck speed. Right now India is probably the fastest growing nation in the world in chess. Almost everyone in the sport agrees, the future of chess is with India,” says grandmaster RB Ramesh, who coaches Praggnanandhaa.

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Like Vishy Anand said in the FIDE commentary, this camera angle makes you feel like you're watching from the e4 and a half square, right from between the knight and a pawn. 

Forget the bird's eye view, this is the pawn's eye view. 

1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 Nf3 Nc6

Here are the first moves from the games involving Indians players: 

Alireza Firouzja (white) vs Praggnanandhaa R: 1 e4 e5

Gukesh (white) vs Vidit: 1 d4 d5

Vaishali (white) vs Humpy: 1 e4 e5

Here’s how the 8 open Candidates contenders were picked:

Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia, but playing under FIDE flag): 2023 World Championship Match Runner-up

Praggnanandhaa R (India): 2023 World Cup 2nd place finish

Fabiano Caruana (USA): 2023 World Cup 3rd place finish

Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan): 2023 World Cup 4th place finish

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (India): 2023 Grand Swiss 1st place finish

Hikaru Nakamura (USA): 2023 Grand Swiss 2nd place finish

Alireza Firouzja (France): Best by Rating

Gukesh D (India): 2023 FIDE Circuit Winner

Here’s how the 8 women’s Candidates contenders were picked:

Vaishali Rameshbabu (India): 2023 Grand Swiss 1st place finish

Humpy Koneru (India): Best by rating

Lei Tingjie (China): 2023 Women’s World Championship Match Runner-up

Tan Zhongyi (China): 2023 Grand Swiss 2nd place finish

Kateryna Lagno (Russia, but playing under FIDE flag): 1st in 2022-23 WGP

Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, but playing under FIDE flag): 2022-23 WGP 2nd place finish

Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria): 2023 World Cup 2nd place finish

Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine): 2023 World Cup 3rd place finish

Magnus Carlsen qualified for the Candidates chess tournament by courtesy of winning the FIDE World Cup. However, he declined to play at the Candidates because he is unhappy with the format of the FIDE World Championship and its time control. So he chose to forgo the chance to play at the Candidates to qualify for the World Championships. The Norwegian favors shorter time controls.

The Candidates chess tournament is held to find the challenger to the reigning world champion.

The winner of the open category at the Candidates will face off against China’s Ding Liren while the women’s Candidates winner will take on China’s Ju Wenjun.

Fabiano Caruana is back to compete in his fifth consecutive Candidates, after playing in the 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022 editions. Of these, he won the 2018 event. “At the Candidates, everyone has their chances. No one can say they’re clear favourites. Victory is much less within your control somehow, you can’t control what other players do. When I played in 2016, I almost made it to the World Championship despite me not knowing how to prepare. Then in 2018, I won it. Last time, having played with a lot of experience, I didn’t handle it well. Not sure how much experience matters,” the World No 2 said.

Ahead of the Candidates, Hikaru Nakamura, who is ranked World No.3 and has been tipped by Magnus Carlsen as the joint favourite to win the Open Candidates tournament, was asked in an interview with FIDE, how he balanced his chess career with his streaming career. “I’m a streamer first, creating content is what I do to earn a living. Playing chess is somewhat secondary,” he said straight faced.

He added: “I don’t feel any pressure with this tournament. If I win, nice and fine. Fact of the matter is if I become world champion, the reach or influence of that is so minor compared to what I have done via streaming or content creation. I just found another path, that for better or worse is far more lucrative and makes it a lot easier to enjoy chess.”

The choice of seconds and trainers is a closely guarded secret in most cases. But many players have brought their seconds and trainers with them to Toronto. The most notable was Pragg’s revelation that Peter Svidler, who played in the Candidates in 2013, 2014 and 2016, will be helping him.

Many of Viswanathan Anand’s former trainers and seconds now work with some of the current crop of elite stars. Grzegorz Gajewski, who is Gukesh’s trainer, has worked with Anand. As has Surya Shekhar Ganguly, who is helping Vidit Gujrathi for the Toronto event. Then there’s Sandipan Chanda, who was Anand’s second, and is currently the trainer of Vaishali. (Not to mention that Anand’s one-time aide Peter Heine Nielsen has been helping Magnus Carlsen for many years now). In fact, both Gukesh and Vaishali started working with their trainers because of Anand nudging them in that direction.

Round 1 pairing for Open category at FIDE Candidates 2024

Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura

Nijat Abasov – Ian Nepomniachtchi

Alireza Firouzja – Praggnanandhaa R

Gukesh D – Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

Round 1 pairing for women’s category at FIDE Candidates 2024

Aleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna Lagno

Anna Muzychuk – Nurgyul Salimova

Lei Tingjie – Tan Zhongyi

Vaishali Rameshbabu – Humpy Koneru

When the Candidates tournament starts next week in Toronto, the two other Indians accompanying the 29-year-old Vidit in the eight-man field — 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa and 17-year-old Gukesh, who will be the second youngest player after Bobby Fischer to play at the Candidates — are proof of that.

As the average age of grandmasters emerging from the country has gotten younger and younger with each passing month, it was natural for Vidit to feel a sense of FOMO. The fear of missing out.

When the Candidates tournament — which is held to find a challenger for the reigning world champion Ding Liren — starts in Toronto in April, you could part the contenders neatly into three categories. There are the grizzled, war veterans who have experienced the pressure of the big stage before: Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, and Alireza Firouzja. Then there are the two teenage prodigies — Pragg and Gukesh — who are competing at their first event and have a lot to prove.

Then come Azerbaijani Nijat Abasov and Vidit, both in their late 20s, but experiencing the Candidates for the first time and knowing that, unlike the other debutants, they will possibly have lesser shots at playing the Candidates.

Vidit, in a sense, is among the last grandmasters to come from the pre-chess engine era.

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A case can be made that the World Championship battle is more forgiving than the Candidates. If you err, you come back with redrawn battle plans and take on the same opponent once more. At the Candidates, though, one loss can suddenly become a slippery slope.

It is into this tournament of suffering that R Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali — head for the next three weeks. Each player in the eight-man open event and the eight-women corresponding tournament will play the other opponents twice and the winner after 14 rounds will earn the right to challenge the world champions next year.

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Viswanathan Anand has been training hard for the upcoming Candidates 2024 tournament, which starts in Toronto next week. No, the five-time world champion is not competing this time. He will be sitting behind the mic as he dons the commentator’s hat for the role.

“Don’t be alarmed. I’m just warming up for the Candidates,” Anand says in a video posted on his social media handles by the chess legend.

He then proceeds to do various comical voice training and throat exercises before ending with a tongue twister.

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Ahead of the biggest chess event of 2024, Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com. 

Here's what Magnus said about Hikaru Nakamura: “I think Hikaru has never had a better chance to become world champion than this. I would say he is a co-favourite to win the Candidates, along with Caruana. He’s been quite consistent recently in classical chess. He has a good chance.”

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Ahead of the biggest chess event of 2024, Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com. 

Here's what Magnus said about Nijat Abasov: “I think he’s most likely going to suffer. Once you start losing it’s hard to stop the bleeding when you’re a considerably weaker player than the others, which I think Abasov is. He will not have it easy.”

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Ahead of the biggest chess event of 2024, Carlsen has ranked the eight-man open Candidates field in an interview with GM David Howell for Chess.com.

Here's what Magnus said about Alireza Firouzja's chances: “I’m an Alireza true believer! I’ll put him in the ‘will do well’ category. That’s reasonable considering difficulties at the last Candidates tournament.”

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Round 1 the Candidates chess tournament.