Chess Candidates 2024: R Praggnanandhaa And Vaishali Score Victories In Round 3, Gukesh Impresses

In a day where most of the games ended up in a draw, R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali ensured wins in Round 3 of the ongoing Chess Candidates 2024. In the other matches of the day, Gukesh played a draw against Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Toronto (Canada): In a day where most of the games ended up with draws, siblings R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali inked victories over Vidit Gujrathi and Nurgyul Salimova respectively. D Gukesh was impressive in his match against two-time challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi but missed out on a winning opportunity and the game ended in a draw by the end of the day. Vaishali played a brilliant game to secure a win.

Gukesh, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura are jointly leading the points table currently with two points each. Vidit and Praggnanandhaa are at 1.5 points apiece while Hikaru Nakamura, Alireza Firouzja and Nijat Abasov trail half a point behind in the eight-player double round robin tournament. The fixture between Alireza and Caruana was an uneventful one both the players were glad to split the points as it ended in a Sicilian defence after 38 moves.

Tan Zhongyi of China is at the top of the points table in women's candidates with 2.5 points to her name while Aleksandra Goryachkina lags by half a point. Humpy, Vaishali and Kateryna Lahno have earned 1.5 points each so far while Lei Thingjie, Nurguyl and Anna Muzychuk are at the bottom of the pile with one point each.

In the game between Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi, both players went the Catalan way and the former enjoyed a middle space advantage. Amidst the exchanges that took place on the board, Gukesh missed the opportunity on the 29th turn to enhance his position. Draw was the most likely outcome after that and so both the players agreed to shake hands after sharing half a point each.

After suffering a defeat yesterday, Praggnanandhaa bounced back with a victory over Vidit Gujarathi. The Ruy Lopez Opening did not work for Praggnanandhaa at the start but with his Schliemann defense on the 4th turn, the opponent was surprised. He castled on the opposite flanks and forced the exchange of pieces after getting rid of a couple of pawns from the opponent's side.

Read More