Candidates 2024, Round 2: Vidit stuns Nakamura, Gukesh beats Praggnanandhaa; Vaishali loses to Zhangyi
India’s Vidit Gujrathi and D Gukesh gathered decisive wins to take an early advantage in the FIDE Candidates tournament, happening at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada on Saturday.
Vidit’s win came against the odds as he trumped the experienced Hikaru Nakamura with black pieces. With this win, the Indian broke the World No. 3’s 47-game unbeaten streak in classical chess that had lasted since a loss to the defending world champion Ding Liren in the Candidates 2022.
HIGHLIGHTS | FIDE CANDIDATES 2024 ROUND 2
Gukesh secured his win by trumping countryman R Praggnanandhaa in a complex game.
In the other games in the open category, Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Alireza Firouzja, while Fabiano Caruana bettered Nijat Abasov.
In the women’s category, India’s Koneru Humpy gathered her second draw of the tournament, against Russia’s Kateryna Lagno. R Vaishali though suffered a setback as she crashed to a defeat to Tan Zhongyi despite starting with white.