Heartbreak for Gukesh leaves Nepomniachtchi as leader; Vidit, Praggnanandhaa draw their games

When your much-understated but immensely vital sense of danger deserts you even momentarily, the result is often swift and shattering.

It was one such devastating experience for joint overnight leader D. Gukesh at the end of his seventh-round encounter against Alireza Firouzja.

Having held the upper hand and looking good to enlarge his advantage, Gukesh could see Firouzja under severe time pressure of making 13 moves in three-and-a-half minutes to complete 40 moves in the stipulated two hours.

Candidates 2024: Vidit, Pragg, Humpy gain draws; Vaishali, Gukesh concede defeats

That’s when the disaster unfolded for the youngest in the eight-player FIDE Candidates 2024.

After sacrificing a knight, Gukesh overlooked a defensive manoeuvre for the desperate Firouzja. At that stage, Gukesh had three pawns for Firouzja’s extra knight and was aiming to push his two connected passed pawns on the queenside.

But Gukesh overlooked the potential of Firouzja’s rook-pair and a knight in setting up a checkmating attack on a defenceless black king.

In seconds, Firouzja calculated it all and inched within a move of checkmating his devastated rival. Resignation from Gukesh followed. He sat motionless by briefly dropping his head on the hands resting on the table before the customary handshake with his rival.

As five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand has often pointed out, Gukesh has a history of volatile results. Fresh in his memory are his two misses against Praggnanandhaa.

In the final round of the 2022 Reykjavik Open, Gukesh dominated the clash of teenagers but overlooked a one-move checkmate that saw Praggnanandhaa take the title.

Again, in January this year, Gukesh closed in on victory over Praggnanandhaa. But within seconds after making a move, Gukesh realised he had allowed Praggnanandhaa to claim a draw by three-fold repetition of the position.

But Thursday’s miss, resulting in a heart-wrenching loss, is sure to hurt Gukesh longer than anything he suffered in the past. How he responds in the second half of the premier competition will reflect the true character of this champion-in-the-making.

Until the action resumes with the eighth round on Saturday, Gukesh will have to deal with the fact that his brief loss of concentration not only denied him the sole lead but pushed him to the second spot in the company of R. Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana.

For Firouzja, this escape to victory prevented a hat-trick of losses between the first and second rest days.

By default, the two-time defending champion Ian Nepomniachtchi now finds himself as the only leader. From being, potentially, half-a-point behind Gukesh, the Russian will resume his campaign with a half-point lead.

Nepomniachtchi survived some serious pressure from Nakamura and the clock before pulling off a dramatic draw. Low on time, compared to his rival, Nepomniachtchi came up with a series of brilliant moves starting from the 27th turn. A sequence of sacrifices and trades left Nepomniachtchi with a queen for Nakamura’s rook, knight, and bishop.

But the Russian read the position perfectly and went on to force a draw by perpetual checks. Starting the day in the joint third spot, Praggnanandhaa and Caruana

gave very little away in their positional battle and agreed to a draw after simplification.

After losing to Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa in the two previous days, Nijat Abasov looked in danger against Vidit until he came up with a late rook-for-knight exchange. He found the precise continuation to restore parity with a fine tactical shot and forced a draw by repetition of moves.

Results: Seventh round (Indians unless stated):

Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 2.5) bt D. Gukesh (4) in 40 moves in Trompowsky; Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4) drew with R. Praggnanandhaa (4) in 41 moves in French Advance; Nijat Abasov (Aze, 2) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (3.5) in 51 moves in Ruy Lopez Berlin; Hikaru Nakamura (USA,3.5) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 4.5) in 40 moves in Petroff’s Defence.

Standings after seven rounds: 1. Nepomniachtchi, 2-4. Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, Caruana, 5-6. Vidit, Nakamura, 7. Firouzja, 8. Abasov.