Toronto (Canada): India's D Gukesh defeated Nijat Abasov in Azerbaijan in round 12 of the Candidates Chess tournament at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada on Friday. With the victory, Gukesh joined Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA. The title race is going down the wire with two more rounds to go and three contenders in a joint lead with 7.5 points to their name.
Playing with white pieces, Gukesh earned his third victory of the tournament in the eight-player round-robin format. Nepomniachtchi was held to a draw by GM R Praggnanandhaa while GM Vidit Gujrathi suffered a loss against Fabiano Caruana. Caruana is also closely placed to the leaders' pack as he is only half-point behind them.
India’s R Vaishali continued her superb run in the tournament winning the third match on a trot beating Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk with black pieces. Also, she jumped to sixth place in the leaderboard after the win. Her compatriot GM Koneru Humpy settled for a draw, against Aleksandra Gorychakina. She is joint third with six points. China’s Tan Zhongyi is in the lead after a close contest against Nurgyul Salimova.
Open Round 12 results
Hikaru Nakamura 1 – 0 Alireza Firouzja
Nijat Abasov 0 – 1 Gukesh D
Fabiano Caruana 1 – 0 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
Ian Nepomniachtchi 1/2 – 1/2 Praggnanandhaa R
Women’s Round 12 results
Kateryna Lagno 1/2 – 1/2 Lei Tingjie
Anna Muzychuk 0 – 1 Vaishali Rameshbabu
Aleksandra Goryachkina 1/2 – 1/2 Humpy Koneru
Nurgyul Salimova 1/2 – 1/2 Tan Zhongyi
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