Round after round of the 2022 FIDE Candidates Tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi is proving to be an immovable object. Today, while he held his lead with a draw against second-place Fabiano Caruana, the ground beneath him began to shift.

With this result, Nepomniachtchi and Caruana maintain the 1 and 2 spots with 6½ and 5½, respectively.
Heading into the ninth round today, excitement swirled around the Fabi-Nepo pairing and the fact that Hikaru Nakamura was back in business after a decisive round 8 win against his American compatriot. It was appearing as though a new leader may emerge. But as IM John Watson observed in his coverage of round 7: with a slip here or a surge there, it’s still anyone’s tournament.
Ding Liren picked up his first event win against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The win must have felt gratifying for rating-favorite Ding who has been facing criticism for his lackluster, risk-averse performance, and recently lamented being steered into a drawish line by Nepomniachtchi in round 8.
https://youtu.be/wXNQK_75mdw
Alireza Firouzja and Teimour Radjabov also picked up their first Candidates wins today, both with White in a d3 Berlin. Firouzja bested Rapport, while Radjabov’s point came at the expense of Hikaru Nakamura, who was eyeing the lead after yesterday’s win against Caruana, but now must watch his back -- tied with Ding Liren at 4½ and perched a precarious half-point above a three-way tie between Rapport, Firouzja, and Radjabov.


Nepo must be breathing a sigh of relief heading into Tuesday’s rest day. A loss to Caruana would’ve meant that he and the American would be tied for the lead, with his fate resting more in the performance of the other Candidates. Now, still a clear point ahead, Ian can’t let his guard down, but he can certainly stand his ground against the challengers who’ve taken half of a tournament to find their footings. We’ll have to wait until Wednesday to see if anyone can move that mountain.

Tuesday, June 28 is a rest day with round 10 commencing on Wednesday, June 29 at 9 a.m. ET.
The pairings for round 10 are:
Rapport – Ding
Duda – Caruana
Nepomniachtchi – Radjabov
Nakamura - Firouzja
Quick Links
FIDE Candidates homepage
US Chess Candidates homepage
Candidates Overview (including streaming links)
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Categories
Archives
- September 2023 (20)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (61)
- February 2020 (39)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (36)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (32)
- July 2017 (27)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (37)
- February 2016 (27)
- January 2016 (33)
- December 2015 (25)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)
Comments
US CHESS CREW AND THAT MAN…
US CHESS CREW AND THAT MAN HARTMANN.:....Fabulous every round rabid rapid "say something mister" coverage by grandmaster Aagard and being followed avidly by many. ONE SUGGESTION..HAVE INSTANT PGN DOWNLOAD OF ALL AAGARD ANNOTATIONS ..ALL ROUNDS INSTANT AGAARD ALL THE TIME ...JUST HIT ONE BUTTON. Otherwise readers have to go on a world wide treasure hunt for The Aaagard. Watson also very nifty appreciated timely warm up for the giant.. My have times have changed. US CHESS rocks bigtime. . Oh how sweet it is.
Jude Acers/ New Orleans
Thanks for the love, Jude!…
Thanks for the love, Jude! We will make all the games available in pgn at the end of the event!
Add new comment