FIDE Candidates 2024: A Day For The History Books with Six Decisive Games in Round Two

Nepomniachtchi (L) focuses during a brilliant game, while Nakamura looks to the ceiling for a way to develop his pieces (Photo courtesy Maria Emelianova/Chess.com)

While yesterday's round saw only one decisive result despite a number of well-prepared, hard-fought battles, today saw the results better reflect the hungry spirit of the competitors. All four games in round two were decisive in the Open, with two more victories coming from the Women's event.

OPEN

What a day it was for the 2024 FIDE Candidates tournament! After a quiet start, the players returned to the board ready for some real action. The last time we saw an all-decisive round in an Open Candidates was in round 12, back in 2021.

Caruana (L) won the battle of nerves against Abasov (Photo courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

GM Fabiano Caruana might have left a half-point on the board yesterday, but today he was much sharper against the lowest seed in the tournament.

Caruana took the time to sign autographs after his victory yesterday (Photo courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

Our other man in Toronto ran into some high-level preparation, which ended his streak of 47 games without a defeat. In fact, the last time GM Hikaru Nakamura lost was in the final round of the 2022 Madrid Candidates to GM Ding Liren!

Photos courtesy of Maria Emelianova/Chess.com (Vidit playing) and Michal Walusza/FIDE (Nakamura and Vidit playing, Vidit interview, and Vidit with fans)

Vidit Naka — Photos courtesy of Maria Emelianova/Chess.com (Vidit playing) and Michal Walusza/FIDE (Nakamura and Vidit playing, Vidit interview, and Vidit with fans)

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi is no stranger to doing well in Candidates. Could his victory against the fiery GM Alireza Firouzja be the beginning of another hot streak?

Scanning — Nepomniachtchi's inspired victory over Firouzja was due, in large part, to brilliant preparation from Nepomniachtchi, so that seems to be a fair place to be using the scanner! Photos courtesy of Maria Emelianova/Chess.com (first, third, and last) and Michal Walusza/FIDE (second).

Talking — Nepomniachtchi's inspired victory over Firouzja was due, in large part, to brilliant preparation from Nepomniachtchi, so that seems to be a fair place to be using the scanner! Photos courtesy of Maria Emelianova/Chess.com (first, third, and last) and Michal Walusza/FIDE (second).

This was truly one of the most fascinating games I have ever witnessed. I don’t think my annotations could do it justice.

The 17-year-old Gukesh is the youngest participant in the field, and currently shares the lead (Photo courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

GM Gukesh D. came out on top in the battle of the teen Indian prodigies, after GM Praggnanandhaa R. refused to force a perpetual and tried to push for more.

Today’s round will feature one battle of co-leaders, with Gukesh taking the white pieces against Nepomniachtchi. Nakamura will look to bounce back with the black pieces against GM Nijat Abasov, while Caruana will presumably be in for a tactical melee with white against Firouzja.

Standings after round two courtesy of FIDE

WOMEN’S

It was a bad day for the brother-sister duo, as GM-Elect Vaishali Rameshbabu suffered her first loss in the Women’s tournament.

Photos courtesy Maria Emelianova/Chess.com (Tan interview) and Michal Walusza/FIDE (Handshake/Vaishali)

Photos courtesy Maria Emelianova/Chess.com (Tan interview) and Michal Walusza/FIDE (Handshake/Vaishali)

Once again, GM Tan Zhongyi found herself in a Carlsbad structure and executed a similar idea with a kingside attack as yesterday. Tan remains on top of the leaderboard as the sole leader with a perfect score.

Goryachkina inspects the base of her pawn structure before essaying a nice sacrifice in the Exchange Slav (Photo courtesy Michal Walusza/FIDE)

In a crucial game for the standings, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina defeated a close rival, GM Anna Muzychuk, from a sneakily venomous Exchange Slav.

The win puts Goryachkina as the only player on 1½/2, a half-point behind Tan.

Standings after round two courtesy of FIDE

Will Tan make it three in a row? She plays black against GM Humpy Koneru today. Goryachkina has the black pieces against GM Lei Tingjie, who already lost once with white this tournament. A clash between Muzychuk and GM Kateryna Lagno could go either way, while Vaishali plays IM Nurgyul Salimova in a duel of the two lowest seeds of the event.

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Play begins daily at 1:30 p.m. CDT, except on rest days (Schedule | Pairings | Crosstables)