FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2022 (13)
Nepomniachtchi wins the FIDE Candidates tournament with a round to spare
Mark Crowther – Sunday 3rd July 2022
A round of applause for Nepomniachtchi after securing tournament victory. Photo © | https://fide.com
Ian Nepomniachtchi won the FIDE Candidates in Madrid. In round 13 he had
the white pieces against Richard Rapport. Nepomniachtchi said he hoped
for a Berlin but instead he got a Sicilian, he chose a solid line which
gave him a small but stable edge and was able to draw in 34 moves. Nepomniachtchi
was obviously extremely happy to wrap things up. Nepomniachtchi said he
was very unhappy when he lost in the final round of the Candidates last year
and is very motivated not to repeat the result, he has black against Jan-Krzysztof Duda but
his opponent may well be in the market for a quick draw.
Duda most likely can’t wait for the tournament to finish. After drawing
his first five games he lost against Nepomniachtchi and his event pretty much
collapsed. He did beat Caruana but he lost his fourth game today against a motivated
Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura kept things complicated even after making an error
and won in 52 moves. Ding Liren drew against Alireza Firouzja and Teimour
Radjabov drew against Fabiano Caruana. Tomorrow Ding Liren needs to beat
Nakamura to finish in second place otherwise the American will. Points
not tie-break coefficients will decide second place thank goodness. I’m not
expecting any of the other games to amount to much although perhaps a couple
of players will try with the white pieces at least a little.
The question as to whether Magnus Carlsen will defend his title against Nepomniachtchi
or will resign the title allowing the second placed player here a shot has not yet
been answered and may not be for some time. Nepomniachtchi looks in very good
shape having been in training pretty much continuously for at least a couple of years
now for the last Candidates and World Championship match.
Round 13 Standings:
1 Nepomniachtchi 9pts,
2 Nakamura 7.5pts,
3 Ding Liren 7pts,
4 Radjabov 6.5pts,
5 Caruana 6.5pts,
6 Rapport 5.5pts,
7 Duda 5pts,
8 Firouzja 5pts.
Round 14 Pairings:
Rapport-Radjabov, Caruana-Firouzja, Ding Liren-Nakamura, Duda-Nepomniachtchi.
FIDE World Chess Championship Candidates Round 13 commentary
| FIDE Candidates 2022 Madrid ESP (ESP), 16 vi-5 vii 2022 | cat. XXI (2772) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| 1. | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | g | RUS | 2766 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | . | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2915 |
| 2. | Nakamura, Hikaru | g | USA | 2760 | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | . | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7½ | 2828 |
| 3. | Ding, Liren | g | CHN | 2806 | 0 | ½ | ½ | . | * | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 7 | 2796 |
| 4. | Radjabov, Teimour | g | AZE | 2753 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | * | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | . | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6½ | 2775 |
| 5. | Caruana, Fabiano | g | USA | 2783 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | . | 6½ | 2768 |
| 6. | Rapport, Richard | g | HUN | 2764 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 5½ | 2717 |
| 7. | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | g | POL | 2750 | 0 | . | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 5 | 2688 |
| 8. | Firouzja, Alireza | g | FRA | 2793 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | . | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | * | 5 | 2680 |
| Round 13 (July 3, 2022) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nepomniachtchi, Ian | – Rapport, Richard | ½-½ | 34 | B67 | Sicilian Rauzer | |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | 1-0 | 52 | B90 | Sicilian Najdorf Variation | |
| Radjabov, Teimour | – Caruana, Fabiano | ½-½ | 31 | E04 | Catalan | |
| Firouzja, Alireza | – Ding, Liren | ½-½ | 42 | C47 | Four Knights | |
Sorry I didn’t have time for notes for this round.
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