Chess Candidates 2024, Round 11 Highlights: Humpy, Vaishali win; Vidit, Praggnanandhaa lose; Gukesh draws vs Caruana

Open

Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 Nijat Abasov 

Fabiano Caruana 1-0 Alireza Firouzja 

Ian Nepomniachtchi ½-½ Gukesh D 

Praggnanandhaa R ½-½ Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 

Women’s

Kateryna Lagno ½-½ Anna Muzychuk 

Aleksandra Goryachkina 0-1 Lei Tingjie 

Nurgyul Salimova 0-1 Vaishali Rameshbabu 

Tan Zhongyi ½-½ Humpy Koneru

Vidit folds and it’s Ian Nepomniachtchi who is in the sole lead with just three rounds to spare. 

Humpy finally converts the position and beats Salimova in a 90-move marathon game and she moves to 5.5 points now. 

Vidit meanwhile blunders and is in a losing position against Nepomniachtchi. 

As Vaishali snatches Goryachkina’s queen, the latter is forced to resign. Vaishali fights back with her second win in succession after beating Salimova yesterday. 

Wow! The game has shifted once again as Goryachkina blundered under time pressure and has lost her queen to Vaishali. What a turnaround. 

The game has simplified a lot Vaishali vs Goryachkina clash. It is the queen’s endgame now. 

The queens have been traded in the Humpy vs Salimova match. It’s rook endgame with an extra pawn for the former. 

Vaishali had just four seconds left on the clock before her 57th move. The players are getting 30-second increment per move. 

Both Humpy and Salimova have less than 3 minutes on the clock. The Indian is not able to wrap up this game quickly. 

Vidit is down to his last 10 minutes in a holdable position against Nepomniachtchi. 

Lei Tingjie draws her game with Anna Muzychuk with white pieces. 

Humpy starts her pawn march in the g-file and she is very close to converting this position and pocketing a much-needed win. 

Vaishali has lost all of her initiative against Goryachkina and it’s a dead-draw position after 44 moves. 

Pragg resigns on the 54th move and he loses to Hikaru as the American moves to joint-lead alongside Gukesh with 6.5 points while the Indian is still with 5.5 points with three rounds to go. 

Pragg is in a hopeless position against Nakamura and has lost his knight. It’s about resignation time for him. 

Tan Zhongyi delivers another win! She check-mates Kateryna Lagno and seems like she is going to be the challenger against Ju Wenjun by the looks of it. 

Two poor moves from Ian Nepomniachtchi put Vidit in a better position but the Indian could not find the best move in this position. 

Humpy is now two pawns up and completely crushing Nurgyul Salimova here. 

Vaishali offers bishop trade which instantly lowers her eval bar from a completely winning position to only a slightly favourable one. 

Pragg makes an inaccuracy in time scramble and it’s Hikaru who’s in the driver’s seat now. 

And here comes the confirmation, Gukesh draws with Caruana and stays on top of the leaderboards. Vidit will need to hold Nepomniachtchi with white pieces if Gukesh needs to stay in sole lead. 

The rooks have been exchanged in the Gukesh vs Caruana game and we are into the queen’s endgame which looks like a draw. 

We’re 36 moves into the Vaishali vs Goryachkina game and the Indian has a better position. Are we going to see back to back wins from Vaishali?

Humpy can sniff the win after Salimova makes another miscalculation. +3.10 advantage for the Indian GM on the eval bar. 

Gukesh with a chance to double up his rook down his right flank and mount an attack on a loosely protected black pawn. But he blunders a pawn of his own and gives Caruana a chance to march his queen right into the danger area. 

Firouzja gets the better of Abasov, who has had a disappointing game. That win takes Firouzja to 4.5 points. 

Humpy makes a knight trade as she looks to press home her advantage against Salimova, who hasn’t helped her cause by making a few miscalculated moves. 

The time crunch is starting to hit Gukesh. Caruana has nearly 40 minutes over his opponent. Gukesh will have to find some big moves, quickly, to get this game back to his grip. 

Vidit’s position continues to deteriorate, ever so slightly. To make it worse for him, Vidit has to make 24 moves in 39 minutes to get past the 40-move cut off. 

A knight trade is quickly followed by Caruana shutting down a dangerous diagonal for Gukesh’s white bishop. 20 moves done each. 

Humpy seems to be narrowly ahead of Salimova. Now the Indian GM pushes her queen forward in attack. This move could determine how the rest of the game unfolds. 

Vidit’s struggle with time continues in this tournament. He has now handed Nepo a 30-minute advantage. And to make it worse, the Russian has an advantage on the board. 

Hikaru Nakamura has more or less negated Praggnanandhaa’s early white advantage. The eval bar rests at 0.00 for now. 

Goryachkina declines to make it a three-fold repetition draw against Vaishali. With the tournament going deep, every point is crucial. 

Gukesh continues his pawn march down the left flank as Caruana withdraws his knight. The American though has a significant time advantage. 

Hikaru puts a check on Pragg with his bishop. Pragg blocks the check with his own bishop, which is backed by a knight. 

Vaishali has worked herself into a solid position, with two pawns controlling the middle against Goryachkina. 

Humpy castles to the longer side against Salimova. The game is slightly in favour of the Indian at this point.

Caruana goes Bishop to f6 to further strengthen his outpost in the centre. Gukesh put under some early pressure. The Indian is already trailing by more than 20 minutes. 

Nepo puts pressure on Vidit’s queen by bringing out his bishop. Vidit has an option to trade queens, but he doesn’t seem interested to do it. The game is heating up. 

Praggnanandhaa and Nakamura trade queens. Pragg seems to be holding a minor advantage as we enter the middle game. 

Caruana still waiting for Gukesh to make his fourth move. 100.00 accuracy from both according to Stockfish. 

Opening - Queen’s Pawn Opening: Symmetrical Variation

Praggnanandhaa takes his time for his fourth move. Nakamura waits. 

A slightly off-balance start from Goryachkina against Vaishali. Alapin Sicilian defence is the opening structure. 

Opening - Slav Defence. 

Humpy trades a knight for a bishop against Salimova. The Indian contender absolutely needs a win today if she wants to retain any hopes of clinching the title. 

Queen’s Gambit Declined: Three Knights, Barmen Variation is how it has played for opening of Gukesh vs Caruana. Gukesh is the first to take a moment to recalibrate. 

Petrov’s defence for Vidit vs Nepo as the Indian GM brings out his queen into action early on. 

And we are off. Another exciting round of chess with the title race really heating up. 

Women’s Category

1. Lei Tingjie (CHN) - 6.5

2. Tan Zhongyi (CHN) - 6.5

3. Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS) - 5.5

4. Kateryna Lagno (RUS) - 5.5

5. Koneru Humpy (IND) - 4.5

6. Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) - 4.0

7. Anna Muzychuk (UKR) - 4.0

8. R. Vaishali (IND) - 3.5

1. D Gukesh (IND) - 6.0

2. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) - 6.0

3. R Praggnanandhaa (IND) - 5.5

4. Hikaru Nakamura (USA) - 5.5

5. Fabiano Caruana (USA) - 5.5

6. Vidit Gujrathi (IND) - 5.0

7. Alireza Firouzja (FRA) - 3.5

8. Nijat Abasov (AZE) - 3.0

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Candidates 2024: Gukesh gets ready for Caruana; Indians a worry for Nepomniachtchi

Before the last set of two rounds, how Nepomniachtchi deals with the Indian challengers could prove crucial.

Where to watch the live stream of the Candidates 2024 chess?

The live streaming of the Candidates 2024 will be available on the FIDE YouTube channel.

Which TV channel will broadcast the Candidates 2024 chess?

There has been no official announcement for the broadcasting of the Candidates 2024 in India.

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OPEN

Hikaru Nakamura - R Praggnanandhaa 

Nijat Abasov - Alireza Firouzja

Fabiano Caruana - Gukesh D

Ian Nepomniachtchi - Vidit Santosh Gujrathi

Women’s

Lei Tingjie - Anna Muzychuk

Aleksandra Goryachkina - Vaishali Rameshbabu

Nurgyul Salimova - Koneru Humpy

Tan Zhongyi - Kateryna Lagno 

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the FIDE Candidates 2024 round 11, happening at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada on Thursday. Stay tuned as we bring you all the live updates.